PHALANX: Expendable Projectile Sensor Networks for Planetary Exploration

Technologies enabling long-term, wide-ranging measurement in hard-to-reach areas are a critical need for planetary science inquiry. Phenomena of interest include flows or variations in volatiles, gas composition or concentration, particulate density, or even simply temperature. Improved measurement of these processes enables understanding of exotic geologies and distributions or correlating indicators of trapped water or biological activity. However, such data is often needed in unsafe areas such as caves, lava tubes, or steep ravines not easily reached by current spacecraft and planetary robots. To address this capability gap, we have developed miniaturized, expendable sensors which can be ballistically lobbed from a robotic rover or static lander - or even dropped during a flyover. These projectiles can perform sensing during flight and after anchoring to terrain features. By augmenting exploration systems with these sensors, we can extend situational awareness, perform long-duration monitoring, and reduce utilization of primary mobility resources, all of which are crucial in surface missions. We call the integrated payload that includes a cold gas launcher, smart projectiles, planning software, network discovery, and science sensing: PHALANX. In this paper, we introduce the mission architecture for PHALANX and describe an exploration concept that pairs projectile sensors with a rover mothership. Science use cases explored include reconnaissance using ballistic cameras, volatiles detection, and building timelapse maps of temperature and illumination conditions. Strategies to autonomously coordinate constellations of deployed sensors to self-discover and localize with peer ranging (i.e. a local GPS) are summarized, thus providing communications infrastructure beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) of the rover. Capabilities were demonstrated through both simulation and physical testing with a terrestrial prototype. The approach to developing a terrestrial prototype is discussed, including design of the launching mechanism, projectile optimization, micro-electronics fabrication, and sensor selection. Results from early testing and characterization of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components are reported. Nodes were subjected to successful burn-in tests over 48 hours at full logging duty cycle. Integrated field tests were conducted in the Roverscape, a half-acre planetary analog environment at NASA Ames, where we tested up to 10 sensor nodes simultaneously coordinating with an exploration rover. Ranging accuracy has been demonstrated to be within +/-10cm over 20m using commodity radios when compared to high-resolution laser scanner ground truthing. Evolution of the design, including progressive miniaturization of the electronics and iterated modifications of the enclosure housing for streamlining and optimized radio performance are described. Finally, lessons learned to date, gaps toward eventual flight mission implementation, and continuing future development plans are discussed

ESMD Space Grant Faculty Project

No abstract availabl

Survey of Command Execution Systems for NASA Spacecraft and Robots

NASA spacecraft and robots operate at long distances from Earth Command sequences generated manually, or by automated planners on Earth, must eventually be executed autonomously onboard the spacecraft or robot. Software systems that execute commands onboard are known variously as execution systems, virtual machines, or sequence engines. Every robotic system requires some sort of execution system, but the level of autonomy and type of control they are designed for varies greatly. This paper presents a survey of execution systems with a focus on systems relevant to NASA missions

A risk-aware architecture for resilient spacecraft operations

In this paper we discuss a resilient, risk-aware software architecture for onboard, real-time autonomous operations that is intended to robustly handle uncertainty in space-craft behavior within hazardous and unconstrained environments, without unnecessarily increasing complexity. This architecture, the Resilient Spacecraft Executive (RSE), serves three main functions: (1) adapting to component failures to allow graceful degradation, (2) accommodating environments, science observations, and spacecraft capabilities that are not fully known in advance, and (3) making risk-aware decisions without waiting for slow ground-based reactions. This RSE is made up of four main parts: deliberative, habitual, and reflexive layers, and a state estimator that interfaces with all three. We use a risk-aware goal-directed executive within the deliberative layer to perform risk-informed planning, to satisfy the mission goals (specified by mission control) within the specified priorities and constraints. Other state-of-the-art algorithms to be integrated into the RSE include correct-by-construction control synthesis and model-based estimation and diagnosis. We demonstrate the feasibility of the architecture in a simple implementation of the RSE for a simulated Mars rover scenario

Paper Session III-B - A Roadmap for Space Microelectronics Technology into the New Millennium

Advances in microelectronics technologies over the past several decades have truly revolutionized modern society in almost every aspect of human endeavor. The continuous scaling of the commercial semiconductor technology to smaller and smaller device and interconnect feature sizes (referred to as Mooreís Law due to Gordon Moore of Intel) has lead to more and more functionality being developed onto a single silicon ëchipí. Moreover, the manufacturing cost of an on-chip function is getting cheaper and cheaper. These two factors: ëmore for lessí represents the fuel that has propelled the microelectronics technology revolution of the 20th century. How long will this technology revolution last into the new millennium is a key question that the semiconductor industry is continuously evaluating. An excellent roadmap of the commercial semiconductor technology needs for the next 15 years (from 1997 to 2012) is described in The National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in December 1997 [1]

Multi-agent systems for power engineering applications - part 2 : Technologies, standards and tools for building multi-agent systems

This is the second part of a 2-part paper that has arisen from the work of the IEEE Power Engineering Society's Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) Working Group. Part 1 of the paper examined the potential value of MAS technology to the power industry, described fundamental concepts and approaches within the field of multi-agent systems that are appropriate to power engineering applications, and presented a comprehensive review of the power engineering applications for which MAS are being investigated. It also defined the technical issues which must be addressed in order to accelerate and facilitate the uptake of the technology within the power and energy sector. Part 2 of the paper explores the decisions inherent in engineering multi-agent systems for applications in the power and energy sector and offers guidance and recommendations on how MAS can be designed and implemented. Given the significant and growing interest in this field, it is imperative that the power engineering community considers the standards, tools, supporting technologies and design methodologies available to those wishing to implement a MAS solution for a power engineering problem. The paper describes the various options available and makes recommendations on best practice. It also describes the problem of interoperability between different multi-agent systems and proposes how this may be tackled

Concept development for lightweight binary-actuated robotic devices, with application to space systems

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001."June 2001."Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-71).Exploratory space missions of the future will require robotic systems to lead the way by negotiating and mapping very rough terrain, collecting samples, performing science tasks, and constructing facilities. These robots will need to be adaptable and reconfigurable in order to achieve a wide variety of objectives. Conventional designs using gears, motors, bearings, encoders, and many discrete components will be too complex, heavy, and failure-prone to allow highly-reconfigurable systems to be feasible. This thesis develops new concepts that may potentially enable the design of self-transforming space explorers. The vision of this research is to integrate compliant bistable mechanisms with large numbers of binary-actuated embedded smart materials. Compliant mechanisms are lightweight and robust. Binary actuation is the idea of using an actuator in a discrete on/off manner rather than in a continuous manner. A binary actuator is easy to control and robust, and by using tens or hundreds of binary actuators, one can approximate a continuous system, much like a digital computer can approximate an analog system. The first part of this thesis examines the fundamental planning issues involved with systems having large numbers of binary actuators. The notion of a workspace is described and applied to the optimization of a manipulator design. Methods for solving the forward and inverse kinematics are discussed in the context of this application. These methods are extended to the trajectory and locomotion planning problems. Methods for planning systems of substantial complexity are developed in the context of exploratory space robotics. The second part of this thesis presents experimental demonstrations that examine elements of the concept. The results of several design prototypes are discussed.by Matthew D. Lichter.S.M

Autonomous Systems, Robotics, and Computing Systems Capability Roadmap: NRC Dialogue

Contents include the following: Introduction. Process, Mission Drivers, Deliverables, and Interfaces. Autonomy. Crew-Centered and Remote Operations. Integrated Systems Health Management. Autonomous Vehicle Control. Autonomous Process Control. Robotics. Robotics for Solar System Exploration. Robotics for Lunar and Planetary Habitation. Robotics for In-Space Operations. Computing Systems. Conclusion