Dave,

 

The past few months I have continued to work at a very low level of activity on CMS ECAL End Cap matters.

 

During this period I have further investigated the use of remote handling equipment for any future maintenance and upgrade programs. One company in particular has shown much interest in developing the non-automatic solution to component replacement and removal using a 6-axis robot in conjunction with a joystick controlled system (other systems have also been suggested). Having presented and gone into some detail describing the construction of a typical End Cap with company engineers, the proposed remote handling system should be capable of undertaking basic removal of screws (various sizes) and more delicate operations of Data/trigger fibre box, connectors and VFE pcb removal within the End Cap. These last items are of  are of particular interest as the active levels of radiation in some areas of the End Cap may preclude actual physical contact for any essential long-term maintenance work.

 

The UK based company are NIS http://www.nisltd.com find attached their proposal letter.

 

Their experience in both nuclear handling and industrial automation put them in an ideal situation to propose a solution. For this to progress further however they have suggested to undertake a feasibility study (phase 1). As is the nature of this complex manipulation it will require some technical input from various parties namely End Cap Engineering, CMS End Cap Project leader, possibly CERN engineering/facilities engineers.

 

As of Friday I will not be available for a few weeks, I would appreciate your feedback and consider a response to this proposal. I am well aware that much effort is being placed into current working activities of CMS however being that systems such as these have a tremendous lead time to develop one should at least try and support some focus on this potentially important aspect of long-term CMS maintenance.

 

Best Regards

 

                John