In 2007, the Department of Energy (DOE) declared the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF). This declaration expanded the focus of the ATR to include diversified classes of academic and industrial experiments. An essential part of the new suite of more accurate and flexible codes being deployed to support the NSUF is their ability to predict reactor behavior at startup, particularly the position of the outer shim control cylinders (OSCC). The current method used for calculating the OSCC positions during a cycle startup utilizes a heuristic trial and error approach that is impractical with the computationally intensive reactor physics tools, such as NEWT. It is therefore desirable that shim rotation prediction for startup be automated. Shim rotation prediction with perturbation theory was chosen to be investigated as one method for use with startup calculation automation. A modified form of first order perturbation theory, called phase space interpolated perturbation theory, was developed to more accurately model shim rotation prediction. Shim rotation prediction is just one application for this new modified form of perturbation theory. Phase space interpolated perturbation theory can be used on any application where the range of change to the system is known a priori, but the magnitude of change is not known. A cubic regression method was also developed to automate shim rotation prediction by using only forward solutions to the transport equation. / text

Ett vanligt förekommande problem med produktionsutrustning på Eberspächer är driftstopp där grundorsaken är svår att identifiera. Användning av sofistikerade system som isolerar felkällan kan minska avhjälpningstiden och därför vara till stor nytta för produktiviteten samt operatörens arbetsmiljö. Följande rapport undersöker möjligheterna kring att automatisera en återställning av en maskin fokuserad på mät- och kvalitetskontroll, till ett ursprungsläge där driftpersonal kan återuppta produktion efter ett driftstopp. Inledningsvis började arbetet med en litteraturstudie från vilket information inhämtades om de olika automatiserade delarna i mätcellen. Vidare studerades även maskinens PLC-program för att försöka förstå vad koden i de olika programmerade blocken gör. Programmeringen av den automatiserade återställningen gjordes i enighet med Eberspächers riktlinjer och kravspecifikation. Utifrån insamlad information om maskinens funktion har ett program med önskad funktionalitet kunnat skapas. Slutsatsen som kan dras av detta arbete är att det finns stora fördelar med att automatisera funktioner som kan vara svåra och kräva mycket av användaren. Den automatiserade återställningen är ett bra exempel på en funktion där det finns ekonomisk, ekologisk och ergonomisk vinning av att göra en komplicerad aktion lätthanterlig. / A common problem with production equipment at Eberspächer is downtime where the root cause is difficult to identify. The use of sophisticated systems that isolate the source of the error can reduce the remediation time and therefore be of great benefit to productivity. The following report examines how to automate the restoration of a machine focused on measurement and quality control, to an original mode where operating personnel can resume production after a downtime. Initially, work began on a literature study from which information was obtained about the various automated parts of the measuring cell. Furthermore, the machine's PLC program was also studied to try to understand what the code in the various programmed blocks does. The programming of the automated recovery was done in accordance with Eberspächer's guidelines and specification. Based on collected information about the machine's function, it has been possible to create a program with the desired functionality. The conclusion that can be drawn from this work is that there are great advantages to automating functions that can be difficult and require a lot of the user. The automated reset is a good example of a feature where there are economic, ecological and ergonomic benefits of making a complicated action manageable.