This is the presentation given at the end of the Space studies program at NASA Ames, August 2009. The ACCESS Mars project stands for Assessing Cave Capabilities and Evaluating Specific Solutions (ACCESS) Mars explores the future of robotic and human exploration missions to Mars via subsurface habitation.
Mission statement: "...to develop a mission architecture for an initial settlement on Mars by assessing the feasibility of cave habitation as an alternative to proposed surface-based solutions".
A GEO satellite’s distance from earth gives it a large coverage area, almost a fourth of the earth’s surface and also have 24 hour view of a particular area.This will be very helpful to army,navy etc.,These factors make it ideal for satellite broadcast and other multipoint applications.Continuous monitoring is done and also cost effective in long term, risk-less.
This is the presentation given at the end of the Space studies program at NASA Ames, August 2009. The ACCESS Mars project stands for Assessing Cave Capabilities and Evaluating Specific Solutions (ACCESS) Mars explores the future of robotic and human exploration missions to Mars via subsurface habitation.
Mission statement: "...to develop a mission architecture for an initial settlement on Mars by assessing the feasibility of cave habitation as an alternative to proposed surface-based solutions".
A GEO satellite’s distance from earth gives it a large coverage area, almost a fourth of the earth’s surface and also have 24 hour view of a particular area.This will be very helpful to army,navy etc.,These factors make it ideal for satellite broadcast and other multipoint applications.Continuous monitoring is done and also cost effective in long term, risk-less.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit:
http://www.embedded-vision.com/platinum-members/embedded-vision-alliance/embedded-vision-training/videos/pages/may-2016-embedded-vision-summit-nasa-keynote
For more information about embedded vision, please visit:
http://www.embedded-vision.com
Larry Matthies, senior research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, presents the "Using Vision to Enable Autonomous Land, Sea and Air Vehicles" keynote at the May 2016 Embedded Vision Summit.
Say you’re an autonomous rover and you’ve just landed on Mars. Vexing questions now confront you: “Where am I and how am I moving?” “What obstacles are around me?” “Are the obstacles moving?” “What other objects are around me that matter to my mission?” As it turns out, Earth isn’t that different from Mars in this regard. If you’re an autonomous car or drone, you face similar challenges. You’ve got to find combinations of sensors that work across different illumination, weather, temperature, and vehicle dynamics; processors that fit the size, weight, and power constraints of the system; and algorithms that can answer the questions given the sensors and processors available. In this talk, Matthies gives an overview of autonomous vehicle computer vision applications, explores successful approaches, and illustrates concepts with application examples from applications on Earth and in planetary exploration.
humans are still involved and controlling the missions but without risking precious lives
in the long, maintaining robots, inanimate beings, in space is much easier and cheaper than living beings
robots have the capacity to be built to explore environments humans can’t
robots are faster and more efficient in observations and conclusions, they don’t need computers to certify information, they have it programmed… they’re brain and bulk in one lighter specimen
robots now have greater dexterity with new technologies that allow them to have greater dexterity than humans. This comes in handy when dealing with precious, rare space debris
CONS
sending robots into space doesn’t catch the public attention in the same way human exploration does
if something goes wrong in space and the robot’s system depletes, without a human it’ll take a lot to get the robot’s system rebooted again from Earth
don’t have human reasoning… they might do things and go places that are unknown and are a danger to them
REFERENCES
www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ycia/robot.html
www.space.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/research/overview/overview.html
www.nanier.hq.nasa.gov/telerobotics-page/technologies/0524.html
www.jem.tksc.nasda.go.jp/iss/3a/orb_rms_e.html
production technology by R. K. Jain
introduction to space robotics by Alex Ellery
Nick - Benefits of Using Combined Bathymetry and Side Scan Sonar in Shallow W...Codevintec Italiana srl
Codevintec Days 2018 - Trieste
EDGETECH - Nick - Benefits of Using Combined Bathymetry and Side Scan Sonar in Shallow Water Surveys
Codevintec Days 2018 - Trieste
Relazione di Nick Lawrence - Edgetech
American Astronautical Society, Astronauts and Robots: Partners in Space Exploration, May 12-13, 2015 - http://astronautical.org/event/astronauts-robots
1. 1
Microbots for Large-Scale Planetary
Surface and Subsurface Exploration
Steven Dubowsky, Principal Investigator
Karl Iagnemma, Co-Investigator
Field and Space Robotics Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Penelope Boston, Co-Investigator
Director, Cave and Karst Research Program
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
2. 2
The REMotes Concept
Deploy thousands of small mobile microbots over
a planet’s surface and subsurface
Allows the scientific study
of very large-area surface
areas in extremely difficult
terrains
Allows the scientific study
caves other subsurface
domains
REMotes - Robotic Exploration Micromotes
3. 3
Concept Overview
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
4. 4
The Concept
Small and Light Weight
– ≈ 100mm and 100 grams
Highly Redundant
–100s-1000s of units for a mission
–Individuals are sacrificial
–Largely constructed of highly durable
and lightweight polymers
–Extremely simple and reliable
Highly Agile in Rough Terrain
–Hopping, rolling, bouncing
Autonomous
–On-board power, communications,
sensing
–Teams with science-driven group
intelligence
5. 5
Scientific Motivation
•• Caves:
Windows into the subsurface
(underlying geology, subsurface ices/water, etc.)
Repositories for materials
(biological traces, climate signals, unique minerals, etc.)
•• Surface terrains
Icy surfaces
(e.g. permafrost, polygons, rocky deserts, etc.)
Volcanic and rocky surfaces
(e.g. lava flows, canyons, rock underhangs, etc.)
9. 9
Preliminary Field Testing - New Mexico Lava tubes
• Breakdown floors vs. sediment floors
• Wedging issues in different terrain
• Size optimization of microbot units
10. REMots - A New Paradigm for Exploration
of the Bodies of the Solar System
10
Future Planetary Missions will Need to Explore:
Very Large Surface Areas
Access complex subsurface topologies
Traverse very rough terrain
ReMotes provide:
Strategy flexibility
Multiple applications
Multiple planet types
Multiple terrain types
…at comparable
volume and mass to
existing linear
sampling strategies!
1000 REMotes would
have the same launch
volume and weight as
the Spirit
11. 11
Deployment and
Communication Concept
Deployed by orbiter
Airbag landing
Deployed from a balloon or
aerial vehicle
Low altitude drop landings
Microbots Communicate via:
“Trail of breadcrumbs” ( LAN) to
lander or to aerial vehicle or
orbiting satellite
12. 12
Deployment
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Reference Missions
A Mar surface exploration mission - 135 sq kilometers (50 sq miles) in 30 Sols
A Cave exploration mission - 1 Km in 5 days (WEEBUBBIE CAVE-Australia)
13. Microbot Subsystems
13
Mobility
• Bi-Stable EPAM “muscle” actuators
• Directed or non-directed hopping
Power
• Hyper-efficiency micro fuel cells
Sensors
• Micro-scale imagers, environmental
sensors, gas analysis sensors,
spectrometers
Communication and control
• Surface/subsurface LAN
• Collective group behavior
14. 14
Mobility and Power
Mass (Total) 150 g
Diameter 10 cm
Hop height 1.5 m
(Mars)
Distance per hop 1.5 m
(Mars)
Avg. hop rate 6 hop/hr
Max. hop rate 60 hops/hr
Fuel use 1.5 mg/hop
Peak power 1.5 W
Bi-Stable
EPAM
actuator
Fuel Tank
Mobility and Power
All Polymer Bi-stable “muscle” actuators
Directed or non-directed hopping,
bouncing, rolling
High-efficiency fuel cells
Power Leg
Predicted System
Parameters based on the
reference missions
15. 15
Mobility and Power
EPAM “muscle” actuators - Directed or
non-directed hopping, bouncing, rolling
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Charge
Orient
• Hop
16. Sensors and Communications
16
Heterogeneous sensor suites
Micro-scale imagers, environmental
sensors, gas analysis sensors,
spectrometer, etc.
Communication and control
Surface/subsurface LAN
Antenna
Panoramic
Imager
Indexing
Sensor
Disks
Microprocess
or and
Electronics
17. 17
Microbot surface LAN
Sensors and Communications
Communication and control
Surface/subsurface LAN
Collective group behavior
19. Actuator: Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscles (EPAMs)
19
– Simple
– Lightweight
Basic Operating Principle
Compliant
electrodes
Elastomeric film
Actuation
QuickTime™ and a
Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
20. 20
MIT actuator performance
– Large strains (up to 200%)
– Micro-amp currents
– 1000:1 force to weight ratio
– Dynamic response: 10 Hz
– Energy efficiency: > 70 %
Actuation
QuickTime™ and a
Video decompressor
QuickTime™ and a
Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
are needed to see this picture.
21. 21
Actuation
• Experimental Prototype:
– 110 x 50 x 15 mm
– Mass: 30 g
– Jump height ~ 100 mm
(1g)
10 cm
• Indexing Actuator Concept
– Simple
– All polymers - light weight
and inexpensive
QuickTime™ and a
MPEG-4 Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
22. 22
Fuel Cell Sys. Mass
Battery Sys. Mass Power
• Fuel cells result in long system range
– Surface mission: 30 days*6 hops/hr ∼ 5000 hops
– Cave mission: 1 km penetration ∼ 1000 hops
– Fuel consumption (H2+O2): 1.5 mg / hops
– Peak power: 1.5 W
– Embedded in structure
10.0
1.0
0.1
10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of Hopping Cycles
PCB Fuel Cell power (Fritz B. Prinz,
Stanford)
- 0.15 kg hopper
- Jumps of 1.5 m (high) x 1 m (long)
Battery Fuel Cell
23. Sensors and Computation
4 Gig Disk Drive - 2004 (Toshiba)
23
Key Exploit - Micro-sensors and micro-computational
components (currently under
development)
Micro-sensors have very small power
consumption (25 to 100mW)
Proposed sensors suites include:
– Image sensors
– Environmental sensors
– Gas analysis sensors
– Spectrometers
On-board processing reduces data
transmission requirements
On-board-data processing Technical
University of Braunschweig
24. 24
Image sensors
– Panoramic camera to identify science
sites, localize and navigate microbot
– Microscopy for close up and high
resolution analysis
Environmental sensors
– Pressure, temperature and dust
sensors
– Accelerometers and gyroscopes system
mobility
– Gaussmeters, Magnetoscops for field
measurements
Fujitsu: CMOS Micro-
Camera
Micro-scale prototypes are
underdevelopment.
Sensors
Miniaturized gyro by JPL.
25. 25
• Gas analysis
– Primarily for detection of carbon compounds
– Detection of methane to study biological activity
– Micro-scalelaboratory-on-chip type sensors are under
development
Miniaturized mass
spectrometer- Draper
Laboratories
• X-Ray, Raman and Mössbauer
spectrometers
– Play key roles in planetary geo-chemical
characterization
– Greatest limitations for miniaturization
and largest power consumption
• “Spectrobots” to carry only spectrometers
• Specific measurement and limited spectra
resolution could be key for data reduction
Sensors
26. Communication-Surface
26
X-band antenna-Department of
engineering science, Oxford, UK
Surface exploration
Microbots communicate
with a central unit (lander)
and each other via LAN.
Maximum distance to cover
in reference surface
mission ≅ 6.5 km without
LAN.
RF frequency between 1
and 25 GHz would meet the
requirement (≅ 100mW)
27. Communications- Subsurface
Microbots communicate with lander by a “trail of breadcrumbs”
27 *Boston, P.J., et al , S.L.. Extraterrestrial subsurface technology test bed: Human use and scientific value of Martian caves. STAIF (Space Tech. & Applic. Forum 2003) Proc.. AIP
#654. Amer. Inst. of Physics, College Park, MD, 2004
Reference Cave Mission:
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
–50 Microbots
–Field Measurements
show Range in caves
at 25 GHz is greater
than 20 meters-
(non-line-of-sight)
Reference Mission (1km) WEEBUBBIE CAVE-Australia
28. Surface Mobility--Simulations Study Results
28
Analysis of microbot
surface mobility
– 100 Microbots
– 1.5 m per jump
– 4320 jumps
– 6 jumps / hour
– 30 days
133 square km or 50
square mi covered
– Result for one “team”
– Mission might have
multiple teams with
various starting on
planet
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
29. 29
Cave Mobility
Hibashi by candlelight: Show
that the cave has a relatively
uniform cross-section.
The Hibashi Cave, Saudi Arabia
30. 30
Cave Mobility -- Simulations Study
Results
Microbot enters cave
3 jumps
Microbot movement
inside a representative
cave
Simulation of Hanns Cave, Australia
5m
31. 31
Cave Mobility
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Profile: WEEBUBBIE CAVE-Australia
32. 32
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
34. REMots - A New Paradigm for Exploration
of the Bodies of the Solar System
34
ReMotes could provide the ability to:
•Explore Very Large Surface Areas
•Access complex subsurface topologies
• Traverse very rough terrain …at comparable
launch volume and
mass to existing
linear single point
sampling strategies!
…and they could go
where no robot has
gone before.
35. Important Feasibility Questions Remain
35
Issues would be addressed in a Phase II Study
• The fundamental limitations of component technologies in extreme
environments
• Design and control concepts for mobility in rough terrain -- resistance to
entrapment.
• The selection of heterogeneous sensor team for maximum science return.
• Decentralized command, control and communications methods for microbot
teams
• The fundamental limitations of microbot scaling - the performance of very
small sensors, actuators, fuel cells, etc.
• Comparison projected performance of microbot mission to conventional
rovers (MSL 2009 mission baseline)
• Laboratory and field demonstrations of key technologies
36. 36
REMots: A new design paradigm for the exploration of
the planets, the moons and other bodies of the Solar
System!
Our Team
