During his PhD studies, Hjalte Durocher researched the use of a crane-sized, 7-jointed robot arm for maintaining large plasma-facing components in the donut-shaped future fusion power plant EU-DEMO. Over time, high-energy neutrons from the fusion reaction will deteriorate the plasma-facing components to the point that they must be replaced. This includes the so-called breeding blankets, which weigh as much as 180 tonnes each. EUROfusion previously designed a robot arm to safely and precisely replace DEMO's blankets, but detailed modelling was required to confirm that it could carry out this critical mission robustly in a space-constrained, sensor-hostile environment. Hjalte Durocher's PhD contributes kinematic and dynamic models of the robot arm and its complex joints, in the process analyzing, influencing, and verifying the mechanical design and laying the foundations for advanced control. In particular, methods of resilient control are proposed and tested for the challenging contact-rich phases of the robot's mission.

The PhD study was completed at the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Friday, 19 June 2026, at 12:00
Place: Building 5790, room 115. Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Aarhus University, Katrinebjergvej 89G, 8200 Aarhus N
Title of PhD thesis: Modelling and Control for Resilient Robotic Breeding Blanket Handling in EU DEMO
Contact information: Hjalte Durocher, e-mail: hjalte.durocher@mpe.au.dk, tel.: +45 20135071
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Henrik Gordon Petersen, SDU Robotics, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Professor Youcef Mozouar, Institut Pascal, Clermont-Auvergne University, France
Professor Ole Balling (chair), Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor: Associate Professor Xuping Zhang, Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C.