SBIR/STTR
High Temperature Venus Drill and Sample Delivery System, Phase I
Project Introduction
We proposed to design, build and test a high temperature Pneumatic Drill and Trencher system for Venus subsurface exploration. The Venus Drill and Trencher will be hybrid systems capable of acquiring surface and subsurface regolith as well as pulverized rocks (i.e. cuttings) from depth (the exact depth will be driven by the science requirement). The drill and the trencher unique sample delivery system will be able to transfer samples as they are being acquired, directly into the science instruments. Hence, these systems could be a single deployment system – it will have to drill/cut down once to deliver samples, and never retract. If the Venus Drill and/or Trencher will be deployed from a robotic arm, the system could be used multiple times. If the Venus Drill or the Trencher will be body mounted or mounted to a single degree of freedom system (spring deployable single action arm), it would be deployed once. Depending on the deployment requirements, the Drill and the Trencher could require just one actuator, while the remaining degrees of freedom (lowering the system to the ground and/or deploying the system some distance from the lander) could be achieved by a set of springs and hinges.
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Anticipated Benefits
Potential NASA Commercial Applications: NASA applications for this technology include sampling of surface regolith (i.e. 'vacuum cleaner suction mode') as well as the subsurface soils and rocks on Venus. The sample delivery system is an integral part of both the drill and the trencher. Hence, there is no need for any additional sample transfer hardware e.g. a robotic arm with a scoop, etc. The successful completion of the proposed effort would be essential to a New Frontiers Venus mission proposal as it would offer significant new opportunities for improved science, data gathering and operational life. In addition to Venus applications, the drill and the trencher with the sample delivery system work in any other environment that has an atmosphere (e.g. Titan with the atmospheric pressure of 1.5 atm). Because of Titan's lower temperature (~100K), there will be no need for HT motors and associated HT materials, and hence the system would have to be redesigned for lower temperature (e.g. actuators would need heaters, etc.).
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Center | Pasadena, CA |
| Honeybee Robotics, Ltd. | Supporting Organization | Industry | Pasadena, CA |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
New York
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Center / Facility:
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Responsible Program:
- SBIR/STTR
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Project Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- Kris Zacny
Project Duration
Start: Jun 2014
End: Dec 2014
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 3 |
| Current: | 3 |
| Estimated End: | 3 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 4 Robotics and Autonomous Systems
- TA 4.2 Mobility
- TA 4.2.1 Extreme-Terrain Mobility
Other / Cross-cutting:
- TA 4 Robotics and Autonomous Systems
- TA 4.2 Mobility
- TA 4.2.5 Surface Mobility
- TA 4.3 Manipulation
- TA 4.3.6 Sample Acquisition and Handling
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