A laser foil printing system was developed capable of depositing and welding material on both 2D and 3D substrates, such as on a flat plate and spherical geometry, respectively. The system will utilize 6-axis collaborative robot arms (Universal Robots UR10e) to manipulate the metal foils and a laser beam to weld the thin sheets of metal foil to yield a final 3-dimensional product.
Sponsor and Collaborator: Directed Stockpile Work Program Integration Office and E-2
Robotics and computer vision are used bolt and unbolt shipping containers. The system utilizes a camera and machine learning model to locate the container’s assembly bolts with a high degree of precision. An integrated nut runner located on the end of the system’s robotic arm uses a magnetic socket to thread or unthread the bolts.
Sponsor and Collaborator: Directed Stockpile Work Program Integration Office and Y-12
This prototype tested the viability of teleoperation (teleop) robotics for glovebox operations. The controls consist of the Phantom Omni Touch and a live camera feed. An end effector was designed to facilitate attaching a winch hook to a mounting point.
Sponsor and Collaborator: ALDWP and ARIES
This project prototyped a conveyor in a glovebox trunkline. The travel system is a wheel that is directly driven by a stepper motor and controlled by a programmable logic controller. Additionally, a robotic arm was used for payload delivery. The robotic arm was located at a designated location and was capable of picking and/or placing items from the conveyor cart. The system locates the conveyor cart by using a stepper motor encoder and multiple inductive proximity switches along the length of the glovebox.
Sponsor and Collaborator: ALDWP and ARIES
Canisters are initially located on a storage shelf. A robotic arm is used to locate and retrieve a specific canister. Next, the robotic arm places the canister at an inspection station before using its attached camera to record images used in determining if there is any damage to the canister. The robotic arm then moves the canister from the inspection station to the conveyor belt. At the other end of the conveyor belt, another robotic arm moves the canister to a second inspection station before placing the canister into a new storage location.
Sponsor and Collaborator: Directed Stockpile Work Program Integration Office and ARIES