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1994

houdini

Houdini, a bulldozer-like mobile robot, is part of an integrated solution for tank-waste retrieval. The vehicle folds to fit through a 24" (60-cm) opening, providing substantial work capability inside tanks and other limited access areas. Houdini's hydraulic power, track drives, submergibility, radiation tolerance, and low center of gravity enable it to perform a wide variety of tasks in very challenging environments.

Houdini is a tethered, hydraulically powered, track-driven work platform with a folding frame chassis that allows it to fit through confined access ways as small as 22.5 inches (0.57 meter) in diameter. Modeled after bulldozers and backhoes from the construction industry, and hardened to work in nuclear and other hazards, Houdini provides unique work capabilities in a flexible configuration that facilitates in tank deployment. Houdini was originally developed to support the retrieval of nuclear waste from U.S. Department of Energy storage tanks and has been successfully used for that purpose in numerous tanks at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

The Houdini system consists of six main components:

  • Vehicle
  • TMADS - Tether Management and Deployment System
  • Control Console
  • PDCU - Power Distribution and Control Unit
  • Tether
  • Tooling

System features including the deployment system and tooling options can be modified to accommodate specific application requirements.