Programme

3D and metrology in an unusual and very challenging environment: the In Vessel Viewing System (IVVS) of ITER

Ignazio Piacentini
Imaging Lab - Italy

Presentation abstract

ITER is the largest thermonuclear fusion experiment ever being undertaken. The ITER IVVS will perform an accurate 3D mapping of the inner tokamak wall with two different aims: a geometric / metrology survey and a check of possible discrepancies between the 3D original CAD model and the ‘real world’ as well as a diagnostic of the potential wall surface damage of plasma disruptions during the operation / lifetime of the machine, potentially leading to the accumulation of radioactive dust inside the machine vessel.
The six IVVS probes are permanently mounted on the vessel and are subject to all the challenges of the tokamak environment such as ultra high vacuum, intense magnetic fields, high temperature, and exposure to severe radiation doses.

Information about the speaker

Ignazio Piacentini is now directing ImagingLab Srl, in Lodi (Italy) an engineering / consulting company specialized in machine vision and robotics. He was the former Business Development Manager Europe for imaging and motion of National Instruments until 2003. He has a diploma in Nuclear Engineering (Milan, Italy, 1975) and a M.Sc. degree in Digital Systems and Instrumentation (Polytechnic of Central London, UK, 1987). Before joining the machine vision industry in the early nineties, he has spent many years working for the European Commission (Euratom) designing control and data acquisition systems for the thermonuclear fusion research community. It was during these years that he had his first glimpse of machine vision (in-vessel inspection system) and robotics (remote handling).

He has chaired / coordinated IMVG (Italian Machine Vision Group), a group of vision companies within AidA (Associazione Italiana di Assemblaggio), since its foundation in 2006 until 2009.

During the last EMVA (European Machine Vision Association)  conference (Dublin, May 2009) he was elected as a member of the EMVA Executive Committee.

In 2010 he has been selected as an ‘external expert’ of F4E (Fusion for Energy) and has taken up some consultancy work related to the ITER ( a large scale thermonuclear experimental project) Remote Handling system, with specific references to Control System issues, Viewing equipment, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and 3D Vision and Metrology.