The IRFM’s VIPER (Virtual Integration Platform for Engineering & Remote handling), which has been in operation for over 10 years, is a key player from the design phase through to assembly, maintenance and personnel training in the complex environment of fusion.
Numerous tools have been developed, from verification of component integration to simulation of robotic operations and verification of accessibility for maintenance.
This platform is used extensively for the WEST, ITER and DEMO fusion projects and is integrated into the design process, including in several areas:
- Understanding & sharing the configuration to identify design factors (ease of exchange between the various players in a project: scale 1, immersion, human factors) to give a global vision of a project.
- Detect integration conflicts and manage space reservations (management of variants and interfaces).
- Define and validate operating sequences (time management, logistics, dynamic configuration)
- Check and validate the feasibility of an operation (match between workplace configuration/ volumes / components / tools / workers & robots / mock-up & digital twin)
- Integrate nuclear constraints (optimisation of intervention times, ALARA, link with radiation protection, contamination, coupling with calculation codes, simulation of degraded modes)
- Train operators to carry out specific procedures/gestures
- Data control and digital continuity: Converting 3D data to XR tools, checking the validity of the 3D model & interfacing with massive digital databases (CAD, BOM, metadata).
