Mars rotorcraft: possibilities, limitations, and implications for human/robotic exploration

Abstract

Abstract1,2 -Several research investigations have examined the challenges and opportunities in the use of small robotic rotorcraft for the exploration of Mars. To date, only vehicles smaller than 150 kg have been studied. This paper proposes to examine the question of maximum Mars rotorcraft size, range, and payload/cargo capacity. Implications for the issue of whether or not (from an extreme design standpoint) a manned Mars rotorcraft is viable are also discussed.

Standardized Field Testing of Assistant Robots in a Mars-Like Environment

“…Such a UAV would need to be redesigned to fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars. Chief among the engineering challenges are that much larger diameter rotors and higher rotation speeds would be needed, even for the smallest class of assistant and these would create longlasting dust clouds at altitudes of a few meters [16]. Furthermore, the estimated energy demands for a useful payload carrying and range would exceed the performance of the best electrical batteries, while liquid-fueled (such as hydrazine) engines would be limited by the available supply of fuel.…”

Path planning for information acquisition and evasion using marsupial vehicles

“…Mission scenarios with marsupial architectures include plans by the U.S. Air Force to release smaller passenger aircraft to fly below cloud cover or trees to gather intelligence [1], submarines that before firing torpedoes deploy a number of small decoy vehicles that emit the same signal as a torpedo firing to minimize the likelihood of the submarine being identified and located (e.g., the mobile submarine simulator [2]), and exploration or surveillance tasks using carrier ground vehicles accompanied by aerial passenger vehicles capable of scouting the terrain ahead quickly [3].…”

System Analysis Applied to Autonomy: Application to High-Altitude Long-Endurance Remotely Operated Aircraft

“…An earlier discussion of risk and cost has been presented in the context of aerial explorers 18 , particularly as related to the question of MSS versus FCL (Many, Simple, Small versus Few, Complex, Large) robotic exploration systems. Based on this early work, a measure of mission "return" for a purely scientific endeavor can be defined by the relationship (i.e.…”

“…The "non-autonomy-related vehicle, payload, or service interruption risks are encapsulated in the functions x(T) and y(T), which are directly proportional to mission duration, T. In effect, Eq. 5a-f can be considered a generalization of early work for aerial explorers and planetary robotic systems 1,18 . In particular, note the parallel between Eq.…”

“…The following concepts and analysis builds upon earlier autonomous aerial vehicle work. 1,[11][12][13][14]18 In a simplistic sense, the definitions of intelligence and elegance used in this paper can be expounded upon by examining the following relationships, Eqs. (1a-d), for a given set autonomy level:…”