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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1994

The MITy micro-rover: Sensing, control, and operation

The sensory, control, and operation systems of the 'MITy' Mars micro-rover are discussed. It is shown that the customized sun tracker and laser rangefinder provide internal, autonomous dead reckoning and hazard detection in unstructured environments. The micro-rover consists of three articulated platforms with sensing, processing and payload subsystems connected by a dual spring suspension system. A reactive obstacle avoidance routine makes intelligent use of robot-centered laser information to maneuver through cluttered environments. The hazard sensors include a rangefinder, inclinometers, proximity sensors and collision sensors. A 486/66 laptop computer runs the graphical user interface and programming environment. A graphical window displays robot telemetry in real time and a small TV/VCR is used for real time supervisory control. Guidance, navigation, and control routines work in conjunction with the mapping and obstacle avoidance functions to provide heading and speed commands that maneuver the robot around obstacles and towards the target.

Malafeew, Eric↗
NASA NTRS1993

Smart focal-plane technology for micro-instruments and micro-rovers

It is inevitable that micro-instruments and micro-rovers for space exploration will contain one or more focal-plane arrays for imaging, spectroscopy, or navigation. In this paper, we explore the state-of-the-art in focal-plane technology for visible sensors. Also discussed is present research activity in advanced focal-plane technology with particular emphasis on the development of smart sensors. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible future directions for the advancement of the technology.

Fossum, Eric R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Smart Focal-Plane Technology for Micro-Instruments and Micro-Rovers

It is inevitable that micro-instruments and micro-rovers for space exploration will contain one or more focal-plane arrays for imaging spectroscopy or navigation. In this paper, we explore the state-if-the-art in focal-plane technology for visible sensors. Also discussed is present research activity in advanced focal-plane technology with particular emphasis on the development of smart sensors. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible future directions for the advancement of the technology.

Fossum, Eric R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Planetary surface exploration: MESUR/autonomous lunar rover

Planetary surface exploration micro-rovers for collecting data about the Moon and Mars was designed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Idaho. The goal of both projects was to design a rover concept that best satisfied the project objectives for NASA-Ames. A second goal was to facilitate student learning about the process of design. The first micro-rover is a deployment mechanism for the Mars Environmental SURvey (MESUR) Alpha Particle/Proton/X-ray instruments (APX). The system is to be launched with the sixteen MESUR landers around the turn of the century. A Tubular Deployment System and a spiked-legged walker was developed to deploy the APX from the lander to the Martian surface. While on Mars the walker is designed to take the APX to rocks to obtain elemental composition data of the surface. The second micro-rover is an autonomous, roving vehicle to transport a sensor package over the surface of the moon. The vehicle must negotiate the lunar-terrain for a minimum of one year by surviving impacts and withstanding the environmental extremes. The rover is a reliable track-driven unit that operates regardless of orientation which NASA can use for future lunar exploratory missions. A detailed description of the designs, methods, and procedures which the University of Idaho design teams followed to arrive at the final designs are included.

Stauffer, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1992

Planetary surface exploration MESUR/autonomous lunar rover

Planetary surface exploration micro-rovers for collecting data about the Moon and Mars have been designed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Idaho. The goal of both projects was to design a rover concept that best satisfied the project objectives for NASA/Ames. A second goal was to facilitate student learning about the process of design. The first micro-rover is a deployment mechanism for the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Alpha Particle/Proton/X-ray (APX) Instrument. The system is to be launched with the 16 MESUR landers around the turn of the century. A Tubular Deployment System and a spiked-legged walker have been developed to deploy the APX from the lander to the Martian Surface. While on Mars, the walker is designed to take the APX to rocks to obtain elemental composition data of the surface. The second micro-rover is an autonomous, roving vehicle to transport a sensor package over the surface of the moon. The vehicle must negotiate the lunar terrain for a minimum of one year by surviving impacts and withstanding the environmental extremes. The rover is a reliable track-driven unit that operates regardless of orientation that NASA can use for future lunar exploratory missions. This report includes a detailed description of the designs and the methods and procedures which the University of Idaho design teams followed to arrive at the final designs.

Stauffer, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1993

International testing of a Mars rover prototype

Tests on a prototype engineering model of the Russian Mars 96 Rover were conducted by an international team in and near Death Valley in the United States in late May, 1992. These tests were part of a comprehensive design and testing program initiated by the three Russian groups responsible for the rover development. The specific objectives of the May tests were: (1) evaluate rover performance over different Mars-like terrains; (2) evaluate state-of-the-art teleoperation and autonomy development for Mars rover command, control and navigation; and (3) organize an international team to contribute expertise and capability on the rover development for the flight project. The range and performance that can be planned for the Mars mission is dependent on the degree of autonomy that will be possible to implement on the mission. Current plans are for limited autonomy, with Earth-based teleoperation for the nominal navigation system. Several types of television systems are being investigated for inclusion in the navigation system including panoramic camera, stereo, and framing cameras. The tests used each of these in teleoperation experiments. Experiments were included to consider use of such TV data in autonomy algorithms. Image processing and some aspects of closed-loop control software were also tested. A micro-rover was tested to help consider the value of such a device as a payload supplement to the main rover. The concept is for the micro-rover to serve like a mobile hand, with its own sensors including a television camera.

Kemurjian, Alexsandr Leonovich↗
NASA NTRS1993

Lunar scout missions: Galileo encounter results and application to scientific problems and exploration requirements

The Lunar Scout Missions (payload: x-ray fluorescence spectrometer, high-resolution stereocamera, neutron spectrometer, gamma-ray spectrometer, imaging spectrometer, gravity experiment) will provide a global data set for the chemistry, mineralogy, geology, topography, and gravity of the Moon. These data will in turn provide an important baseline for the further scientific exploration of the Moon by all-purpose landers and micro-rovers, and sample return missions from sites shown to be of primary interest from the global orbital data. These data would clearly provide the basis for intelligent selection of sites for the establishment of lunar base sites for long-term scientific and resource exploration and engineering studies. The two recent Galileo encounters with the Moon (December, 1990 and December, 1992) illustrate how modern technology can be applied to significant lunar problems. We emphasize the regional results of the Galileo SSI to show the promise of geologic unit definition and characterization as an example of what can be done with the global coverage to be obtained by the Lunar Scout Missions.

Head, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Low energy CMOS for space applications

The current focus of NASA's space flight programs reflects a new thrust towards smaller, less costly, and more frequent space missions, when compared to missions such as Galileo, Magellan, or Cassini. Recently, the concept of a microspacecraft was proposed. In this concept, a small, compact spacecraft that weighs tens of kilograms performs focused scientific objectives such as imaging. Similarly, a Mars Lander micro-rover project is under study that will allow miniature robots weighing less than seven kilograms to explore the Martian surface. To bring the microspacecraft and microrover ideas to fruition, one will have to leverage compact 3D multi-chip module-based multiprocessors (MCM) technologies. Low energy CMOS will become increasingly important because of the thermodynamic considerations in cooling compact 3D MCM implementations and also from considerations of the power budget for space applications. In this paper, we show how the operating voltage is related to the threshold voltage of the CMOS transistors for accomplishing a task in VLSI with minimal energy. We also derive expressions for the noise margins at the optimal operating point. We then look at a low voltage CMOS (LVCMOS) technology developed at Stanford University which improves the power consumption over conventional CMOS by a couple of orders of magnitude and consider the suitability of the technology for space applications by characterizing its SEU immunity.

Panwar, Ramesh↗
NASA NTRS1999

Advanced Design and Implementation of a Control Architecture for Long Range Autonomous Planetary Rovers

An advanced design and implementation of a Control Architecture for Long Range Autonomous Planetary Rovers is presented using a hierarchical top-down task decomposition, and the common structure of each design is presented based on feedback control theory. Graphical programming is presented as a common intuitive language for the design when a large design team is composed of managers, architecture designers, engineers, programmers, and maintenance personnel. The whole design of the control architecture consists in the classic control concepts of cyclic data processing and event-driven reaction to achieve all the reasoning and behaviors needed. For this purpose, a commercial graphical tool is presented that includes the mentioned control capabilities. Messages queues are used for inter-communication among control functions, allowing Artificial Intelligence (AI) reasoning techniques based on queue manipulation. Experimental results show a highly autonomous control system running in real time on top the JPL micro-rover Rocky 7 controlling simultaneously several robotic devices. This paper validates the sinergy between Artificial Intelligence and classic control concepts in having in advanced Control Architecture for Long Range Autonomous Planetary Rovers.

Martin-Alvarez, A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Nanotechnology at NASA Ames

Advanced miniaturization, a key thrust area to enable new science and exploration missions, provides ultrasmall sensors, power sources, communication, navigation, and propulsion systems with very low mass, volume, and power consumption. Revolutions in electronics and computing will allow reconfigurable, autonomous, 'thinking' spacecraft. Nanotechnology presents a whole new spectrum of opportunities to build device components and systems for entirely new space architectures: (1) networks of ultrasmall probes on planetary surfaces; (2) micro-rovers that drive, hop, fly, and burrow; and (3) collections of microspacecraft making a variety of measurements.

Srivastava, Deepak↗