Use of robotics and computerized tools in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) has been identified as a highly recommended practice by IAEA. The key rationale of robotics application has always been to avoid human exposure to hazardous environments and tasks ranging from scrutiny and general maintenance to decontamination and post accidental activities. To execute these activities, robots need to incorporate artificial intelligence, improved sensors capability, enhanced data fusion and compliant human like leg and hand structures for efficient motions. Next generation robotic systems in NPPs are expected to work in full autonomous mode in contrast to the current semi-autonomous scenarios. Far future systems could deploy humanoid robots as well. This paper presents state-of-theart of robotics developed for NPPs, associated challenges and finally comments on future directions. Raza ul Islam is a Master student at CIIT Pakistan and is actively involved in research on robotics and control systems. S. Riaz un Nabi is a PhD candidate in Istituto

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This paper presents modeling and control design of ED 7220C -a vertical articulated serial arm having 5 revolute joints with 6 Degree Of Freedom. Both the direct and inverse kinematic models have been developed. For analysis of forces and to facilitate the controller design, system dynamics have been formulated. A non-linear control technique, Computed Torque Control (CTC) has been presented. The algorithm, implemented in MATLAB/Simulink, utilizes the derived dynamics as well as linear control techniques. Simulation results clearly demonstrate the efficacy of the presented approach in terms of trajectory tracking. Various responses of the arm joints have been recorded to characterize the performance of the control algorithm. The research finds its applications in simulation of advance nonlinear and robust control techniques as well as their implementation on the physical platform.