Maintenance Procedure on WCLL Ancillary System–Virtual Reality Application

Technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR-VR) are changing the way to design the models. These technologies prove useful across all design phases, yet their greatest application lies in supporting the entire life cycle of a system. They shine during maintenance operations and training sessions, effectively teaching operators intricate procedures. The Virtual Reality is a useful technology in the nuclear fusion field, where the immersive visualization scenarios can be applied in to simulate maintenance operation to be conducted in radioactive environment. This study was applied on the ITER Water-Cooled-Lead-Lithium Test-Blanket-Module (WCLL-TBM) ancillary systems. The performances of the virtual reality have been tested simulating an entire maintenance operation, focusing on three main parameters: i) time, crucial aspect in nuclear field where is important to reduce the exposition to the radioactive material; ii) obstacles identification, to avoid interference with other objects during maintenance operation; iii) ergonomic standard, to consider all ergonomic parameters like the mass of the object and the verify of a correct position of an operator in each single operation. A maintenance simulation has been developed through use of a Virtual Reality tool (HTC-VIVE pro-2).