Houdini{trademark}: Reconfigurable in-tank mobile robot. Final report, June 1995--January 1997

This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup system called Houdini{trademark}. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini{trademark} represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini{trademark} is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini{trademark} utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobilize waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini{trademark} system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini{trademark} system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks