Kinematic and dynamic analysis of a serial-link robot for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel

The present paper introduces a serial-link robot which is named flexible in-vessel inspection robot (FIVIR) and developed for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The task of the robot is to carry process tools, such as viewing camera and leakage detector, to inspect the components installed inside of EAST vacuum vessel. The FIVIR can help to understand the physical phenomena which could be happened in the vacuum vessel during plasma operation and could be one part of EAST remote handling system if needed. The FIVIR was designed with the consideration of having easy control and a good mechanics property which drives it resulted in function modular design. The workspace simulation and kinematic analysis are given in this paper. The dynamic behavior of the FIVIR is studied by multi-body system simulation using ADAMS software. The study result shows the FIVIR has ascendant kinematic and dynamic performance and can fulfill the design requirement for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel.

► A serial-link robot FIVIR is proposed for inspection of EAST PFCs between plasma shots.
► The FIVIR is a function modular design and has specially designed curvilinear mechanism for axes 4–6.
► The D-H coordinate systems, forward and inverse kinematic model can be easily established and solved for the FIVIR.
► The FIVIR can fulfill the required workspace and has a good dynamic performance in the inspection process.