Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Nov 15, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Nov 15, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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PSU Keltec supplies TPMs to BARC Our Bureau
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov. 14 THE State-owned Kerala Hitech Industries Ltd (Keltec) has supplied two pairs of three-piece manipulators (TPMs) developed by it to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). TPM is an import substitute for handling hazardous materials, including nuclear waste.The development of the equipment was based on the schematics furnished by BARC for specific requirement. The development of the equipment follows a memorandum of understanding Keltec had signed with BARC two years ago. The formal handing over of the TPMs was performed by the Industries Minister, Mr P.K. Kunhalikutty. The Director of BARC, Mr B. Bhattacharjee, received them. The equipment, capable of doing most of the functions of human hands, is controlled by remote. It has a master arm and a slave arm, which are connected by a through-wall tube. The tube transmits the motions of the master arm to the slave arm after converting the linear motion to the rotary motion. Thus, the person controlling the motions of the slave arm can remain out of the harmful influence of materials like nuclear waste. The slave arm has six degrees of freedom like a human hand. The elbow motion is replaced by a telescopic motion and fingers are replaced by a pair of collapsible grippers. The Chairman of Keltec, Mr R.V. Perumal, said that the equipment comprises 1,160 manufactured components and 85 purchased components such as motors, switches, wire-ropes, chains and fasteners. One arm of the manipulator assembly consists of 20 sub-assemblies. The cost of a pair of TPM is Rs 27 lakh. The company currently has orders worth Rs 30 crore and since 2000-01, it has enlarged its range of products and enlisted new customers such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
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