Five-Step Parametric Prediction and Optimization Tool for Lunar Surface Systems Excavation Tasks

Zacny, K.; Mueller, Robert P.; Craft, J.; Wilson, J.; Hedlund, Magnus; Cohen, J.

doi:10.1061/41096(366)105

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…(Skonieczny et al, 2014). Other parametric studies in the literature include modeling work by Zacny et al (2010Zacny et al ( , 2013. where an excavator is too light to produce enough traction to overcome resistance, resulting in degraded mobility.…”

Section: Planetary Excavator Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…no reduction in resistance at all despite reduction in gravity) and was typically one-third in their particular experiments (Boles et al, 1997). Zacny et al (2010) analytically showed that the scaling of excavation forces in reduced gravity depends on the cohesiveness of regolith and the scale of the robot, with a small-scale robot in highly cohesive regolith resulting in the least relative reduction of resistance. This particular disadvantageous case is a likely one for lunar ISRU.…”

Section: Gravity-offloaded Excavator Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Skonieczny et al, 2014). Other parametric studies in the literature include modeling work by Zacny et al (2010, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Advantages of continuous excavation in lightweight planetary robotic operations

Skonieczny

Wettergreen

Whittaker

2016

The International Journal of Robotics Research

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Planetary excavator robots face unique and extreme engineering constraints relative to terrestrial counterparts. In space missions mass is always at a premium because it is the main driver behind launch costs. Lightweight operation, due to low mass and reduced gravity, hinders excavation and mobility by reducing the forces a robot can effect on its environment. This work shows that there is a quantifiable, non-dimensional threshold that distinguishes the regimes of lightweight and nominal excavation. This threshold is crossed at lower weights for continuous excavators (e.g. bucket-wheels) than discrete scrapers. This research introduces novel experimentation that for the first time subjects excavators to gravity offload (a cable pulls up on the robot with five-sixths its weight, to simulate lunar gravity) while they dig. A 300 kg excavator robot offloaded to 1/6 g successfully collects 0.5 kg/s using a bucket-wheel, with no discernible effect on mobility. For a discrete scraper of the same weight, production rapidly declines as rising excavation resistance stalls the robot. These experiments suggest caution in interpreting low-gravity performance predictions based solely on testing in Earth gravity. Experiments were conducted in GRC-1, a washed industrial silica-sand devoid of agglutinates and of the sub-75-micron basaltic fines that make up 40% of lunar regolith. The important dangers related to dust are thus not directly addressed. The achieved densities for experimentation are 1640 kg/m 3 (very loose/loose) and 1720 kg/m 3 (medium dense). This work develops a novel robotic bucket-wheel excavator, featuring unique direct transfer from bucket-wheel to dump bed as a solution to material transfer difficulties identified in past literature.

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Section: Planetary Excavator Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Gravity-offloaded Excavator Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Advantages of continuous excavation in lightweight planetary robotic operations

Skonieczny

Wettergreen

Whittaker

2016

The International Journal of Robotics Research

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“…This amounts to 0.35 N of drawbar pull for every kg of vehicle mass at launch, a reduction by an order of magnitude. Reducing the forces necessary for excavation is possibly one of the major drivers in reducing costs associated with establishing lunar settlements (Zacny et al 2012). Creager et al (2012) show that a push-pull device with independently articulated pairs of wheels can double the pull/weight ratio.…”

Section: The Interlock Bulldozermentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Sensing and Earthmoving Vehicle for Lunar Landing Pad Construction

Nannen¹,

Bover²,

Zöbel³

2019

Preprint

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Reducing the forces necessary to construct projects like landing pads and blast walls is possibly one of the major drivers in reducing the costs of establishing lunar settlements. The interlock drive system generates traction by penetrating articulated spikes into the ground and by using the natural strength of the ground for traction. The spikes develop a high pull to weight ratio and promise good mobility in soft, rocky and steep terrain, energy-efficient operation, and their design is relatively simple. By penetrating the ground at regular intervals, the spikes also enable the in-situ measurement of a variety of ground properties, including penetration resistance, temperature, and pH. Here we present a concept for a light lunar bulldozer with interlocking spikes that uses a blade and a ripper to loosen and move soil over short distances, that maps ground properties in situ and that uses this information to construct landing pads and blast walls, and to otherwise interact with the ground in a targeted and efficient manner. Trials on Mediterranean soil have shown that this concept promises to satisfy many of the basic requirements expected of a lunar excavator. To better predict performance in a lunar or Martian environment, experiments on relevant soil simulants are needed.

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“…At a higher level, the same process must be repeated every time a new sampling tool and a new configuration of the whole robotic system is investigated. Existing literature focuses on the sampling tool design [32,33], not including the influence of the whole robotic system and the surrounding environment. On the other hand, COTS simulation tools, such as multi-body dynamics tools, allow addressing complex systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multidisciplinary design tool for robotic systems involved in sampling operations on planetary bodies

et al. 2020

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The analysis of robotic systems (e.g. landers and rovers) involved in sampling operations on planetary bodies is crucial to ensure mission success, since those operations generate forces that could affect the stability of the robotic system. This paper presents MISTRAL (MultIdisciplinary deSign Tool for Robotic sAmpLing), a novel tool conceived for trade space exploration during early conceptual and preliminary design phases, where a rapid and broad evaluation is required for a very high number of configurations and boundary conditions. The tool rapidly determines the preliminary design envelope of a sampling apparatus to guarantee the stability condition of the whole robotic system. The tool implements a three-dimensional analytical model capable to reproduce several scenarios, being able to accept various input parameters, including the physical and geometrical characteristics of the robotic system, the properties related to the environment and the characteristics related to the sampling system. This feature can be exploited to infer multidisciplinary high-level requirements concerning several other elements of the investigated system, such as robotic arms and footpads. The presented research focuses on the application of MISTRAL to landers. The structure of the tool and the analysis model are presented. Results from the application of the tool to real mission data from NASA's Phoenix Mars lander are included. Moreover, the tool was adopted for the definition of the high-level requirements of the lander for a potential future mission to the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus, currently under investigation at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This case study was included to demonstrate the tool's capabilities. MISTRAL represents a comprehensive, versatile, and powerful tool providing guidelines for cognizant decisions in the early and most crucial stages of the design of robotic systems involved in sampling operations on planetary bodies.

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Five-Step Parametric Prediction and Optimization Tool for Lunar Surface Systems Excavation Tasks

Cited by 16 publications

References 7 publications

Advantages of continuous excavation in lightweight planetary robotic operations

Advantages of continuous excavation in lightweight planetary robotic operations

Integrated Sensing and Earthmoving Vehicle for Lunar Landing Pad Construction

A multidisciplinary design tool for robotic systems involved in sampling operations on planetary bodies

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