space & planetary robotics group ral 28 th february 2012 robotics & autonomy test facility...

Space & Planetary Robotics GroupSpace & Planetary Robotics GroupRAL 28RAL 28thth February 2012 February 2012

Robotics & Autonomy Test Facility Workshop

Prof. Dave Barnes

Head of Space RoboticsDepartment of Computer Science

Aberystwyth University


AU Planetary Exploration FacilitiesAU Planetary Exploration Facilities

PATLab &rover on Marssoil simulant

Aerobot

Idris

Space & Planetary Robotics GroupSpace & Planetary Robotics GroupRAL 28RAL 28thth February 2012 February 2012 3

AU PanCam Emulator (AUPE-1)

Right WAC

Left WAC

HRC

Filterwheel

Filterwheel

Lightweightoptical bench

Mount

Pan/tiltunit

Multi-spectral cameras, AUPE-2 in development (14-bit, GigE, improved optics)

Radiometric &colourimetric

calibration facility


Bridget the rover traversingnorthwards at Clarach Bay (July 2010)

AUPE and Field Trials – Clarach Bay, UK

Bridget on her way back to the ‘mission control centre’


Clarach Bay Science Assessment

CourtesyDerek Pullan& EU FP7PRoViScoutProject


AU Idris rover undergoinghardware integrationtrials at AU.

AUPE and Field Trials – Local and Tenerife

Bridget in Tenerife withAUPE (PRoVisG)


ESA & CNES conducted a Remote Experiment on 23rd of November 2011.

Image courtesyESA/CNES


AUPE and Field Trials – AMASE

Artic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition


Requires planetary scientists and engineers

Requires good organisation and logistics - not trivial

Health and safety issues

Need to know about the science targets

Need to know about the robotics constraints

Requires ground truth – scientific and engineering!

‘Mars Yards’ and Analogue Field Trails


Simulation SoftwareOverview

Visualisation

CalibratedRobot Model (ground/air)

+ Kinematics &Dynamics

GIS terrain data +Science Instrument

data

Environment DataCFD + Meteorological +

Radiometric Data

ComputerGraphics

Ray-Tracing +Rendering etc.

DEM

CAD


Beagle 2 Simulation Capability

Beagle 2 Mars Shadow Prediction Software

Beagle 2 terrain interactionSoftware


The camera view has been set to provide a distant view of theExoMars rover. The right image shows the virtual terrain rock

under investigation

The Need For Instrument Simulation


Example Simulation Results

ExoMarsPanCam

MER


‘Particulate’ SimulationUnder Micro-Gravity

Asteroid Sample Collection Simulation:testing capture mechanism forces!

Capture Mechanism


FP7 Europlanet TNA1: Planetary Field Analogues Rio Tinto a 100 km long acidic aqueous river environment located in the Huelva province in South West Spain.

Tunisian Chott, located in South West Tunisia is a seasonal lake that is completely dry most of the year.

Ny-Alesund, Svalbard archipelago. Ny-Ålesund is the world's northernmost permanent settlement situated on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago, only 1,200 km from the North Pole.

Ibn Battuta Centre near Marrakech in Morocco is a desert field facility. This extreme environment is used to test rover, landing systems, instruments dedicated to the Mars exploration and to perform scientific analysis of Mars analogues.

The Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia Russia is one of four regions in the world with extensive geyser activity allowing a study of the complex inter-relationship between volcanism and landform development, highly relevant to some planetary bodies, whilst the hot springs are also the habitat of diverse microbiology.


Mars simulation facilities at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and the Open University UK that can simulate Martian atmospheric conditions.

Mars surface analogue at Aberystwyth University composed of Mars Soil simulant that provides a facility for testing robotic instrumentation for future space missions to Mars to analyse and collect geological samples.

Titan atmosphere and surface simulation chamber at the Open University capable of both reproducing the Titan atmosphere and providing an analogue for the physical and chemical conditions found on its surface.

Suite of Planetary Simulation chambers at the Centre for Astrobiology Research, Madrid, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany and the Instituto Nazonale di Astrofisica – Osservation Astronomico di Capodimonte, Italy designed to study planetary surfaces, atmospheres and space environments that may be used for testing instrumentation for potential future space missions.

Dust impact facility at the Max-Planck-Institute fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany that allows the investigation of hypervelocity dust impacts onto various materials to explore dust impact onto planetary minerals caused by the interplanetary dust background.

Dusty wind tunnel, University of Aarhus, Denmark which simulates wind driven dust exposure on Mars.

FP7 Europlanet TNA2: Planetary Simulation Facilities


Future Required Capabilities• Extensive test programmes make space missions more robust• Mars yards, indoor facilities and analogue sites are required [New Specialist Infrastructure?]• Ideally a central facility could advise on most suitable test

regime, campaign [Available UK & European Expertise?]• A central facility could provide the logistics for analogue

site campaigns• Simulation can identify problems at an early design stage• Ideally a central facility could provide expertise on simulation techniques [Available UK & European Expertise?]• A central facility could bring together researchers and institutions to develop future simulators (e.g. simulators integrated with ESA Concurrent Design Facility [Required Research?]• ESA at Harwell could be such a central facility for test and

simulation supported through ISIC ‘Hub & Spoke’ Model

space & planetary robotics group ral 28 th february 2012 robotics & autonomy test facility...

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