S.A.Robotics

Client	Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Facility	Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant
Location	Sacramento, CA

S.A.Robotics was contracted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to provide design, fabrication, assembly, testing, installation, training and maintenance support for supplying abrasive waterjet cutting equipment to be used in segmenting the Rancho Seco Reactor Vessel.

The design consists of a center-mounted square tube, centered inside the reactor, which supports a six degree-of-freedom manipulator with the capability to accurately position and rigidly hold a small waterjet cutting head during all cutting operations. The manipulator assembly consists of six axes; a vertical travel (Z-Axis) along the length of the upright center tube, a main rotational axis about the center of the upright tube (rotation of 540°), a Shoulder Pivot joint (rotation of 180°), a manipulator Forearm Extension (travel of 18 inches), a Wrist Rotate axis (rotation of 360°), and a Wrist Pivot axis (rotation of 180°). A post-cut cleanup end effecter suction tool was designed to remove excess abrasive and water from the reactor vessel pit after cutting is complete.

The design consists of a center-mounted square tube, centered inside the reactor, which supports a six degree-of-freedom manipulator with the capability to accurately position and rigidly hold a small waterjet cutting head during all cutting operations. The manipulator assembly consists of six axes; a vertical travel (Z-Axis) along the length of the upright center tube, a main rotational axis about the center of the upright tube (rotation of 540°), a Shoulder Pivot joint (rotation of 180°), a manipulator Forearm Extension (travel of 18 inches), a Wrist Rotate axis (rotation of 360°), and a Wrist Pivot axis (rotation of 180°). A post-cut cleanup end effecter suction tool was designed to remove excess abrasive and water from the reactor vessel pit after cutting is complete.