Monitor 1979

This paper will update the status, improvements, and accomplishments of the Monitor remote-handling system previously reported.1 It will also outline the goals for the future to improve the efficiency and speed of remote-maintenance operations at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). The Monitor remote-handling system consists of a hydraulic truck loader used as a transportation and positioning device to place the selected manipulators at the work site. Viewing is completely by television and shielding for the operators in the master station is by distance alone. The use of a rate-controlled manipulator and a unilateral hydraulic servomanipulator for remote beam maintenance was reported in Ref. 1. Since the radiation levels exceed 105 R/h in the beam stop area and approach that level in the three LAMPF target areas, it is increasingly imperative that the remote-handling system be capable of maintenance, repair, and replacement of all the components in those areas. The LAMPF system, Monitor, based on the use of force-reflecting manipulators and viewing only by television, has accomplished that goal, although significant improvements have been conceived and will be integrated into the system in the coming months and years. The effort to design proper tooling to assure the maximum utilization of the remote-handling system has gone in parallel with the development of the system itself.