Robotic In-Situ Surface Exploration System for Space Exploration Objectives

摘要

Approximation of asteroid properties, for drilling and manipulation, is an important component of the NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) and in-situ space resource utilization. To aid in these objectives, the Robotic In-situ Surface Exploration System (RISES) was developed through the NASA Early Stage Innovations program. The concept of RISES was to integrate non-destructive testing methods with robotic systems for specimen property determination. The Schmidt Hammer (SH) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) methods were chosen for evaluation based on feasibility, simplicity, and applicability to space conditions. The latest SH based prototype designed for robotic integration was titled the Impact Sensor-2 (IS-2). The IS-2 incorporates a simplified SH tool and is mounted to the force torque sensor (FTS) located at the distal end of a 7 degree of freedom robotic manipulator, which corresponds to the robotic configuration planned for ARM. While a traditional SH is based solely on an analog rebound value, analysis was conducted to determine if similar information could be obtained through use of the time history of the force readings provided by the FTS. Initial tests of the IS-2 were performed on asteroid analogous rock core samples, isotropic samples, and fibrous samples. Material and strength differentiation has been observed through various metrics extracted from the collected force readings. The goal is to continually improve RISES technology design and methodology to address NASA space exploration objectives.