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REMOTE HANDLING OPERATIONS

Preparing for Operations
Often the time taken for remote handling tasks is a key indicator of the success of the operations and the ultimate success of a remote handling operation is significantly influenced by the degree to which the equipment and operators are fully prepared when they start to perform the real tasks.
In other than the most simple cases it is important that the tasks are analysed and the methods to be used are written as procedures and proven to be effective prior to operations.
Experience repeatedly shows that the combined use of a full scale mock-up and virtual reality models are essential for proving the effectiveness of the equipment, the operational methods and training the operators.
The operational procedures need to be created in a rational format taking account of the overall operational logistics, the tasks, the support work, the tracking of tool location, waste route and the provisions for dealing with unexpected and failure situations.

Performing the Operations
Remote operations are performed by trained operators working from written procedures and work instructions.
The success of the operations depends heavily on the organisation and ease of use of the operations documentation, of the proficiency and experience of the operators and not least on the suitability of the remote handling equipment.
The operations documentation must be designed and formatted to facilitate its use and must be supported by a wider set of material which provides the operators with all of the related support information.
The operators must not only be trained for the normal operations but also must be trained to deal with unplanned situations such as when the tasks are not able to be completed as expected or the remote handling equipment is not behaving properly.

Supporting the Operations
Remote operations are often performed in an environment of urgency where lost operations time is unacceptable. In order to sustain the requisite high level of operations efficiency it is essential to provide effective support from equipment maintenance and repair staff. The staff are usually organised by on-call arrangements but their effectiveness at site is significantly influenced by a many factors e.g:
- support staff competence
- familiarisation and training
- quality of the support documentation
- availability of diagnostic facilities built into the equipment
- design of the equipment and its ease of repair

Human-Machine Interface
The interface between the control room and the equipment located in the remote site is a crucial element in the success of the remote operations. The primary Human-Machine Interfaces for remote operations comprise the presentation of textual, graphical, video, audio and sometime tactile information for the operator(s) from the remote site. The control room in which the information is presented and the content, amount and style of the presentated information must be carfully considered at an early stage to ensure that the operations can be completed efficiently and safely.Various proprietary tools are available for the design and implementation of HMI's.
Control Room
The design of the room from which the remote operations are commanded and controlled must take account of the number of key factors e.g:
- Number of operations personnel
- Number of parallel operations
- Health and Safety constraints
- Best practise for ergonomic interfaces
- Ambience
- Facility for discussions/meetings occurring as part of the operations
GUI's
Graphic User Interface's are extremely important in enabling operators to safely control complex machinery. A vital ingredient to preventing operator errors is a uniform look and feel across the equipment GUI's.
We have investigated a number of proprietary SCADA packages (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) such as Panorama but found them inappropriate for communicating with intelligent control systems. Therefore, in order to achieve uniformity, it was found necessary to develop all the GUI's in-house. Initially a GUI tools library was purchased (SL-GMS) to facilitate the development of professional interfaces, but this was soon abandoned in favour of developing on top of Microsofts Foundation Classes (MFC), which satisfies not only the graphic requirements, but also delivers the update-rates needed in robotic applications.
The Graphic User Interfaces are scalable C++/MFC/MDI applications which provide the operators with an intuitive platform for controlling the remote handling equipment. The GUIs deploy colours and mimics to concentrate the operators attention on the important information, and maintain a generally familiar “Windows” look-and-feel.
Haptic Input Devices
In order to create a convincing environment for off-line development of remote handling procedures, haptic input devices provide a sense of contact forces when driving the simulated robots.
At the top of the range is SenSable's Phantom Desktop which is a six degree of freedom stylus device. Force feedback is provided in 3 degrees of freedom.
A cheaper option are force-feedback gaming joysticks such as those provided by Immersion.
Also available are force-enabled mice