Rail DRAGON: Long-reach Bendable Modularized Rail Structure for Constant Observation inside PCV

Yokomura, Ryota*; Goto, Masataka*; Yoshida, Takehito*; Warisawa, Shinichi*; Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Fukui, Rui*

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (Internet), 9(4), p.3275 - 3282, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2024.3366022

To reduce errors in the remote control of robots during decommissioning, we developed a Rail DRAGON, which enables continuous observation of the work environment. The Rail DRAGON is constructed by assembling and pushing a long rail structure inside the primary containment vessel (PCV), and then repeatedly deploying several monitoring robots on the rails to enable constant observation in a high-radiation environment. In particular, we have developed the following components of Rail DRAGON: bendable rail modules, straight rail modules, a basement unit, and monitoring robots. Concretely, this research proposes and demonstrates a method to realize an ultralong articulated structure with high portability and workability. In addition, it proposes and verifies the feasibility of a method for deploying observation equipment that can be easily deployed and replaced, while considering disposal.

Integration of multiple partial point clouds based on estimated parameters in photogrammetry with QR codes

Baba, Keita*; Watanobe, Yutaka*; Nakamura, Keita*; Matsumoto, Taku; Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki

Proceedings of 29th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics (AROB 2024) (Internet), p.751 - 756, 2024/01

Integration of 3D environment models generated from the sections of the image sequence based on the consistency of the estimated camera trajectories

Matsumoto, Taku; Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Yashiro, Hiroshi*; Nakamura, Keita*

Proceedings of 22nd World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC 2023) (Internet) , p.12107 - 12112, 2023/07

3D reconstruction considering calculation time reduction for linear trajectory shooting and accuracy verification with simulator

Nakamura, Keita; Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Baba, Keita*

Artificial Life and Robotics, 28(2), p.352 - 360, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-022-00835-x

Image selection method from image sequence to improve computational efficiency of 3D reconstruction; Analysis of inter-image displacement based on optical flow for evaluating 3D reconstruction performance

Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Nakamura, Keita

Proceedings of 2022 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII 2022) (Internet), p.1041 - 1045, 2022/01

https://doi.org/10.1109/SII52469.2022.9708603

This paper describes the image selection method for an efficient three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction computation from an image sequence. Adequate images must be selected from the image sequence to improve the computational efficiency of the 3D reconstruction. Thus, we investigated a threshold based on the displacement among images obtained from a camera mounted on a remotely operated robot. The results confirmed that the proposed method can select adequate images for efficient 3D reconstruction by the threshold based on the optical flow from the image sequence. Therefore, the computational cost could be reduced by eliminating the duplicate and high-similarity images to perform the efficient 3D reconstruction.

An Image selection method from image sequence collected by remotely operated robot for efficient 3D reconstruction

Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Nakamura, Keita*; Naruse, Keitaro*

Proceedings of International Workshop on Nonlinear Circuits, Communications and Signal Processing (NCSP 2020) (Internet), p.242 - 245, 2020/02

In this paper, we propose an image selection method to realize efficient three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction from image sequence collected by a remotely operated robot. The proposed method is to select adequate images for reconstruction computation based on optical flow measures. We confirmed that the proposed method can select adequate images for 3D reconstruction from the image sequence recorded by the remotely operated robot that is commanded stop-and-go motions. As a result, we demonstrated a 3D reconstruction could be performed efficiently with relatively few images that were selected by the proposed method.

Development of a laser chipping technique combined with water jet for retrieval of fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Yamada, Tomonori; Takebe, Toshihiko*; Ishizuka, Ippei*; Daido, Hiroyuki*; Hanari, Toshihide; Shibata, Takuya; Omori, Shinya*; Kurosawa, Koichi*; Sasaki, Go*; Nakada, Masahiro*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 56(12), p.1171 - 1179, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1647890

We describe a new chipping technique combined with a water-jet technique as one of the candidate techniques for the retrieval of fuel debris and support structures as part of the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. We performed proof-of-principle experiments to demonstrate the removal capability of metal parts, where we focused on the observation of removal processes from a metallic sample using a 5.5-kW continuous wave fiber laser combined with continuous and pulsed water jets.

3D environment reconstruction based on images obtained by reconnaissance task in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki

E-Journal of Advanced Maintenance (Internet), 11(2), p.99 - 105, 2019/09

https://www.jsm.or.jp/ejam/Vol.11No.2/AA/AA161/AA161.html

This paper describes our trials on 3-dimensional environment reconstruction from plural images for recognizing the status in the reactor building of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Structure from Motion is one of photogrammetry techniques to estimate 3-dimensional structure of the objects and the camera's trajectory. We try to apply a Structure from Motion method and a pre-processing to plural images obtained by the reconnaissance task inside Primary Containment Vessel of Unit 3 using remotely operated vehicle. For improving a visibility, Multi-View Stereo is conducted the data obtained by Structure from Motion. In this paper, we report the results of the partial 3D reconstruction using SfM (Structure from Motion) and the visibility improvement of the 3D reconstructed data using MVS.

3D structural reconstruction based on images obtained by survey task for decommissioning

Hanari, Toshihide; Kawabata, Kuniaki

Proceedings of International Topical Workshop on Fukushima Decommissioning Research (FDR 2019) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2019/05

In this paper, we propose a method for improving a visibility of a reconstructed 3D model from images that were photographed at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS). The process of the proposed method consists of pre-processing for correcting a quality of the images, Structure from Motion (SfM) and post-processing for generating a 3D model. We describe the results of the 3D structural reconstruction utilizing plural images recorded by an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) inside the Primary Containment Vessel (PCV). We discussed about the experimental results and confirmed that the proposed method reconstructed major structure in the PCV based on the images.

Demonstration of laser processing technique combined with water jet technique for retrieval of fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Hanari, Toshihide; Takebe, Toshihiko*; Yamada, Tomonori; Daido, Hiroyuki; Ishizuka, Ippei*; Omori, Shinya*; Kurosawa, Koichi*; Sasaki, Go*; Nakada, Masahiro*; Sakai, Hideaki*

Proceedings of 2017 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2017) (CD-ROM), 3 Pages, 2017/04

In decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, a retrieval process of fuel debris in the Primary Containment Vessel by a remote operation is one of the key issues. In this process, prevention of spreading radioactive materials is one of the important considerations. Furthermore, an applicable technique to the process requires keeping of reasonable processing-efficiency. We propose to use the combined technique including a laser light and a water jet as a retrieval technique of the fuel debris. The laser processing technique combined with a repetitive pulsed water jet could perform an efficient retrieval processing. Our experimental result encourages us to promote further development of the technique towards a real application at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.