Remote automatic control scheme for plasma arc cutting of contaminated waste

Abstract

The Robotics Development Group at the Savannah River Technology Center has developed and implemented a scheme to perform automatic cutting of metallic contaminated waste. The scheme employs a plasma arc cutter in conjunction with a laser ranging sensor attached to a robotic manipulator called the Telerobot. A software algorithm using proportional control is then used to perturb the robot`s trajectory in such a way as to regulate the plasma arc standoff and the robot`s speed in order to achieve automatic plasma arc cuts. The scheme has been successfully tested on simulated waste materials and the results have been very favorable. This report details the development and testing of the scheme.