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RASSOR

Pronounced “razor”, RASSOR stands for Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. It is a lunar robot that will autonomously excavate soil when it is near completion, with its small tank like chassis with a Drum excavator and either side mounted on arms which can help the robot climb over obstacles that may be in its way. With these arms the robot can successfully right itself if it flips over and lift itself off the ground the clear its tracks of debris. With the drums positioned vertically RASSOR stands at about 2.5 ft. tall and expected to weigh about 100 pounds. With a top speed of about 4 centimeters per second (nearly five times faster than the Curiosity rover on mars) the RASSOR will work 16 hours a day for many years. In its design NASA has moved away from its usual fragile and slow robot to design something more robust and hardy. The 2 excavating drums are designed to slowly remove soil into a hopper that can hold 40 pounds of material. The little robot will then drive to a processing plant where the soil could be chemically broken down and converted into rocket fuel, water or breathing air for astronauts working on the moon and even possibly mars. This conversion of the lunar soil to fuel could save the costs of launching a rocket as 90% of the rockets weight consists of fuel. In recent tests the team working on the RASSOR has found some flaws with using tank tracks as they can become jammed with small pebbles and sand which could cause the tracks to fall off. The team is weighing their options and considering changing the material of the tracks or switching to wheels. The RASSOR 2 is already being designed and the prototype could be much closer to something NASA actually would launch. Testing is expected to begin in 2014.

Spidernaut

Spidernaut is an arachnid inspired Extra Vehicular Robot (EVR) that is being designed by a NASA for construction, maintenance, and repair projects in future space missions that would be too difficult or too dangerous for a human. The Spidernaut’s legs can move at three different points, one rotary joint in the hip and two more joints that are linear actuated. Each leg weighs 40 pounds but is capable of supporting 100 pounds and exerting upwards of 250 pounds of force. With the robots final weight of nearly 600 pounds evenly spread out across its eight legs Spidernaut will be able to climb across many surfaces including solar panels and the exterior of space craft without causing any damage. The feet of the robot are modular, meaning they can be removed and replaced for different situations that the robot may be placed in. The avionics and other electrical systems of the Spidernaut are located in what would be its thorax and are made up of brushless DC motor controllers and power and data distributors along with the power source. The robot is powered by a 72V/3600 Watt-hour lithium ion battery, which feeds a Power Conditioning and Distribution Module which down converts the 72V main bus to all the needed voltages for all the different devices on board. NASA has also began experimenting with a “web” like cable deployment system that would allow the robot to climb and hang above structures that cannot support even light forces.

ATHLETE

The ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) is a six-limbed robotic lunar rover test-bed that is being developed in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at California Institute of Technology. ATHLETE is a test bed for various systems that could be used for lunar or Martian exploration. Each of the ATHLETE’s six limbs have six degrees of freedom meaning they have six independently operated joints. For general traveling purposes the ATHLETE rolls on its six wheels but if it encounters more rugged and extreme terrain, it is able to lock each wheel into place and walk using its limbs. The first generation ATHLETE was developed in 2005 and consisted of 6, six-degree-of-freedom limbs mounted to the frame of the robot. With a standing height of 2m (6.5ft) and a hexagonal frame of 2.75m (9ft), the ATHLETE weighs about 850kg (1875 lb) and can carry a load of up to 300kg (660 lb). only two were ever constructed in 2005 and one is still operational today. The Second Generation ATHLETE built in 2009. The robot was redeveloped and implemented as a corresponding team of two 3 limbed robots, known as Tri-ATHLETs. This advancement allows for better cargo handling and loading and unloading of cargo as the two robots can connect under the cargo dock and separate from each other and lower the cargo at its destination. The second generation ATHLETE stands at a little over 4m (13ft) and has a load capacity of 450 kg (990 lb). Each limb of the ATHLETE can be used as a universal manipulator. Each limb has a variety of quick deploy tool adapters that allow the robot to use a multitude of tools from its “tool belt”. The tools use the same 1+ horsepower motors that the wheels use and allow the robot to preform many different tasks such as drilling, clamping, digging and many other tool functions.

Spheres

Spheres stands for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites. These satellites are about the size of a bowling ball and are in the experimental phase at Nasa. Each Sphere is self-contained with its own power, propulsion, computers, and navigation equipment. The Spheres are designed to be used inside a space station to test how well the spheres can follow a set of detailed flight instructions. While inside a space station three spheres will be given a set of instructions such as an autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuver. The results from the sphere testing will be applied to satellite servicing, vehicle assembly, and future space craft that will be designed to fly in a formation.

Curiosity

The Mars rover Curiosity is a mobile laboratory that was launched from Cape Canaveral in 2011. The Curiosity landed on Mars surface August 6, 2012. The Curiosity was the largest rover NASA has put on Mars being twice as long and five times as heavy as its processors. Despite the extra size the Curiosity took many design elements from the previous generation of Mars rovers such as six wheel drive, rocker-bogie suspension, and cameras mounted to the mast of the rover to help the mission’s team direct the rover. However unlike the previous generation the Curiosity contains an entire inboard laboratory for analyzing the soil and rocks on Mars. NASA engineered the Curiosity to be capable of rolling over obstacles up to 65 centimeters high and traverse up to about 200 meters per day on Martian terrain. Curiosity;s electrical power is supplied by a generator the runs off of the heat from plutonium-238’s radioactive decay, the gives the Curiosity a operational life span of about 687 days.

Robonaut

Robonaut is a humanoid robot built to work alongside human is space work and exploration. The large goal of the Robonaut project is to build a robot with dexterity that exceeds that of a suited astronaut. Currently there are four different robonauts with others in development, this variety of robonauts allows for the study of different stages of mobility and tasking for each situation. One of the benefits of developing a humanoid robot is that to put a humanoid robot into action NASA would not have to redesign a whole new set of tools. This is because the Robonaut would work in similar spaces and with similar tools as human would. There are currently two working robonauts, R1 and R2. R1 and R2 are both highly capable robots and are able to handle a wide range of tools and tasks. However, R2 is far more advanced for several reasons. First, R2 is four times faster than R1 giving R2 a large edge over its predecessor. Secondly, R2 is more compact and is also more dexterous than R1. And finally R2 had a deeper and wider range of sensing than R1. Robcnaut 2 or R2 was flown to the space station as part of STS–133 mission and was the first humanoid robot in space. In the future legs will be added onto the Robonaut allowing it to move about the space station. In addition to giving Robonaut legs work is also being completed to prepare Robotnaut to venture out into the vacuum of space.