On the use of robust command shaping for vibration reduction during remote handling of large components in tokamak devices

This paper proposes to use robust command shaping methods for reducing the vibrations during remote handling of in-vessel components. The need of deriving efficient vibration control strategies for a safe transportation of large and heavy payloads during maintenance procedures in nuclear fusion reactors is the main motivation behind this work. The approach shapes the reference motion command to the component such that the vibratory modes of the system are canceled. We perform the dynamic simulations of a large in-vessel component of the DEMOnstrating fusion power reactor during a remote handling operation. The simulations shows that the method is a possible solution to reduce the vibrations induced by the motion, in both the transient and residual phases. The benefits introduced by command shaping make the method promising towards building control framework for remote handling of in-vessel components in various tokamak devices.