This video shows a simulated traverse of computer generated lunar terrain by a rover. Team members Heather Jones and Kevin Peterson created the terrain model and simulation. The lunar terrain will aid development and testing of navigation and obstacle detection software.
Settlement of the Moon requires access to resources, especially water for life support and the creation of propellant for spacecraft. In this video, NASA-Ames scientist Rick Elphic describes the polar volatiles sensed by orbital and impact probes, and how scientists are still searching for a consensus explanation of their origin and distribution. One theory is that a giant polar ice cap existed two billion years ago, and may still be there under several meters of mixed dirt and ice.
Creating robots to explore and utilize the Moon requires attention to the reduced gravity, which is one-sixth that of Earth. The lower weight means robots require less power than on Earth to travel from place to place, but it also reduces the traction that machines get in the loose lunar soil. This video shows an initial component test for the Scalable Gravity Offload rig that Astrobotic is developing under a NASA contract.
One of the legs on the scaled lander
The scale model of the lander is assembled and ready for its first drop test. This model will enable acquisition of orientation, velocity, and acceleration information via high speed video. The results will be compared to analytical calculations and simulation data to verify the stability of the landing and the required honeycomb stroke.
The lander model is one sixth the size and mass of the actual lander, measuring 15 inches across and weighing eight pounds. Because the moon’s gravity is 1/6th that of Earth’s, the 1/6 scale model on Earth simulates the dynamics of the full scale lander on the moon. The model lander’s body and legs are made of aluminum. There are aluminum honeycomb cartridges inside the upper struts of the leg. The honeycomb structure crushes with a constant force, softening the impact from landing.
The scale model in front of the lander
The prototype rover egress ramps have been mounted on the lander. The ramps were designed, analyzed and fabricated over the course of the semester and involved design of a spring-powered deployment mechanism. For the installation, the ramps team built a jig imitating the width and wheel diameter of the flight rover.
Zack Morrison installs one of the ramp's support struts. The rover jig sits on the ramp.
The second ramp, assembled and ready for mounting
Both ramps mounted. The flight ramps will have deploying sections on both sides of the lander.
The Astrobotic Technology lunar expedition will have direct-to-Earth radio links from the lander and the rover, with a rover-to-lander circuit providing a back-up route in case either primary leg fails. Integrated Microwave Technologies (IMT) has provided Astrobotic with two COFDM radios, which will provide high reliability, low power video and data links between the rover and lander. IMT’s radios are the smallest and lightest radios of their kind and are designed for rugged military environments.
Starting later this month, Astrobotic will begin testing the radios for range, power, and transmission quality in lunar-analog operating environments. In addition to field trials, the team will test the radios for thermal and vacuum survivability in the lunar environment.
“The IMT radios enable Astrobotic to achieve greater realism in its rover field trials and to discover whether any of the lunar extremes will be an issue during the expedition,” said Kevin Peterson, director of Astrobotic’s communications development.
The IMT kit included three main parts: an ultra compact VST Transmitter capable of encrypted MPEG-4 video, audio and data backchannel, a VSR diversity Receiver, and a hand held/mobile MCR receiver display with a built in spectrum viewer. The spectrum viewer helps robot integrators and users avoid potentially disruptive radio frequency congestion during a mission or during test to help optimize a robot radio’s real mission success. Packaged code from IMT will allow Astrobotic to software-define the radio’s frequency plans & presets. Associated antennas and a ribbon breakout boards were also provided to streamline the team’s integration.
IMT’s military, aerospace and government group specializes in innovative digital microwave solutions for defense, security and law enforcement applications (www.imt-government.com). IMT is a division of Vitec Group.
The IMT kit's mobile display with spectrum analyzer is in the foreground as (left to right) John Thornton, Kevin Thornton and IMT's Rocco Wall and Steve Shpock discuss the transmitter and receiver units
The three parts of the IMT COFDM microwave digital video/audio/data radio kit are (left to right) the VST transmitter (partially obscured), the MCR display and spectrum analyzer, and the VSR receiver (mounted in a board to hold the connectors).
Astrobotic Technology will integrate the IMT COFDM microwave digital video/audio/radio kit into its robot field and laboratory testing. Left to right: Astrobotic's John Thornton and Steve Huber, IMT's Rocco Wall and Steve Shpock, and Astrobotic's Kevin Peterson.
