Construction Planning for a Modularized Rail Structure: Type Selection of Rail Structure Modules and Dispatch Planning of Constructor Robots

Abstract

Remote robot operation is highly anticipated for use in hazardous environments such as nuclear accident sites. We propose an automated construction system of a modularized rail structure for working robots to have access to any operational point. The modules are delivered and constructed through the cooperation of transfer robots and a connector robot. To realize time-efficient and economical construction of the structure, it is necessary to integrate three planning procedures: path planning from a start point to the operational point, type selection planning of rail structure modules, and dispatch planning of constructor robots. This paper describes newly developed algorithms that plan the type selection of all rail structure modules using rules of thumb, and which plan the dispatch of robots to deliver or construct modules avoiding deadlock. A simulation experiment demonstrates that the geometrical constraint conditions of the structure can reduce the search space of selecting module types.