• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.178-182
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• 2022

Post-tension duct in nuclear reactor containment building is filled with grease to prevent steel strand from corroding. If grease leaks by break of duct, steel strand will corrode and cause problem in building safety. Therefore, grease leak should be checked preventatively. But currently used method is inefficient, since it has to remove grease and strand to check. And other methods for checking post-tension dust are not well-researched. In this paper, we develop screw-propelled robot that can move in grease and detect grease duct directly. Also, we make the test environment that is similar to real post-tension duct of containment building and test robot in that environment to verify that our robot is feasible in the post-tension duct. The robot can move forward and backward in grease duct by twin screw mechanism and has mount for sensors to detect grease leakage and strand corrosion.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2022

In general, detection robots using ultrasonic sensors are equipped with sensors to protrude outward or to contact objects. However, in the case of a screw-propelled robot that detects the inside of a reactor tendon duct, if the ultrasonic sensor protrudes to the outside, resistance due to grease is generated, and thus the propulsion efficiency is reduced. In order to increase the propulsion efficiency, the screw must be sharp, and the sharper the screw, the more difficult it is to apply a high-performance ultrasonic sensor, and the detection efficiency decreases. This paper proposes a screw shape-changing mechanism that can improve both propulsion efficiency and detection efficiency. This mechanism includes an overlapped helical ring (OHR) structure and a magnetic clutch system (MCS), and thus the shape of a screw may be changed to a compact size. As a result, the Screw-propelled robot with this mechanism can reduce the overall length by about 150 mm and change the shape of the screw faster and more accurately than a robot with a linear actuator.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2022

A linearly moving structure in the area where the friction force is dominant - such as ducts filled with grease in the nuclear power plant - experiences increase in friction since the contact surface gets larger as the structure proceeds. To solve this problem is critical for the pipe inspection robot to investigate further area and this makes the system more energy-efficient. In this paper, we propose a passively growing sheath that can be added to linearly moving structures using zipper mechanism. The mechanism enables the linearly moving structures to maintain rolling contact condition against external environment, which provides substantial reduction in kinetic friction. To analyze the effect of the mechanism's head shape, we establish a physical model and compare to the experimental results. Finally, we have shown that the passively growing sheath can be successfully applied to the pipe inspection robot for the nuclear power plant.