Towards an autonomous manipulator system for decontamination and release measurement

This paper will present a manipulator and transport system for autonomous exploration, decontamination and radiation measurement / release measurement of contaminated surfaces as found during dismantling of nuclear power plants. An innovative system for surface ablation and measurement tasks is currently being developed under the research project MAFRO (Manipulatorgestütztes Freimessen von Oberflächen = manipulator-based release measurement of surfaces), a joint project of the Institute for Process Control and Robotics and the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The setup comprises a transport system and a manipulator equipped with vacuum suction units to move along walls.