Development of a Robotized Sample Changing System for Activation Analysis.

Abstract

An automatic sample changing system with a small robot has been developed and constructed for instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) . The developed system composed of a model A151 small robot (CRS Plus Inc., Canada), a NEC PC-9801m2 personal computer having two of 1 Mbyte floppy-disk drivers, a NAIG NLAB-MCA multichannel analyzer (Toshiba), Ge detector settled in a low background shield and a tray stored 20 dishes containing a sample. The robot has a five-axis articulated arm (reach: 560 mm, payload: 2 kg, speed : 17m/s, repeatability: 0.13 mm, weight: 17 kg) . The robot and the MCA are controlled by the personal computer via RS-232C or GP IB interface.