Remote handling of DEMO breeder blanket segments: Blanket transporter conceptual studies

This paper outlines a conceptual study to develop a feasible design for the blanket transporter. Requirements were obtained via functional analysis and kinematic analysis of the breeder blanket replacement allowing development of concepts for the main kinematic mechanism. Evaluation lead to down-selection of a concept for further development: A Hybrid Kinematic Mechanism with the first three of its degrees of freedom as a parallel mechanism. The proposed concept demonstrates potential for developing and integrating technologies within the blanket transporter to produce an engineering design that can validate the blanket replacement strategy and hence viability of the DEMO concept.