Robotic In-Situ Surface Exploration System (RISES)

The Robotic In-Situ Surface Exploration System (RISES) aims to support space exploration objectives, which can benefit from in-situ property determination of a feature or area to be manipulated, mined, inspected, or captured. Focus for the application of RISES is directed toward the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) concept to retrieve and secure a boulder from the surface of a parent asteroid using robotic manipulation. Prior to the spacecraft’s initial contact with the asteroid, little more than the geometry of the target boulder will be known. Regardless of the capture technology employed, the reliability and success of the capture sequence will be principally dependent on several mechanical and compositional properties of the target material. To enhance the likelihood of capture success and prevent the mechanical failure of equipment, these properties must be determined prior to the initiation of the capture sequence. A robust material property identification system must be broadly applicable to a range of material types (rock, ice, volatiles, etc.) and preserve the integrity of the target specimen. To assist in the safe capture, manipulation, and retrieval of the asteroid boulder, technologies for in-situ property determination are being researched and evaluated. Two approaches, which contrast in complexity, are being studied to aid the system framework by providing mechanical strength properties: (1) impulse response and (2) sonic wave velocities. The proposed systems are based upon traditional non-destructive rock property evaluation techniques common in the mining, petroleum, and geologic engineering industries. This work will evaluate combining these technologies with the robotic position capability and sensing technologies, as projected for the ARM capture system. The West Virginia University Mining Engineering Department and West Virginia Robotic Technology Center are combining expertise in mining and robotics to research target material property determination pertaining to ARM with extensions to ISRU and exploration applications. •Experimental standards developed for the non-destructive testing of laboratory rock samples at simulated space conditions. •Literature review revealed 35 unique Schmidt Rebound – UCS correlation equations. Meta-analysis showed that these equations might be classified by original sample lithology. •Protocol developed to produce controlled temperature rock samples from -60 to 0°C •Change in rock strength, Schmidt Rebound number, and UPV due to low temperatures observed experimentally. •Qualitative evaluation of UPV testing protocols. •Quantitative and Qualitative evaluation of a novel regolith based UPV coupling mixture. •Quantitative evaluation of the effect water content/long term dehydration has on UPV in uncontrolled and controlled environments. •Design and analysis for Schmidt hammer application with a robotic manipulator and force-torque sensing system (FTS). •Manufactured the Impact System (IS-1). Completion of this task enabled experimental data collection and analysis. •Analysis and identification of limitations imposed by the available hardware (i.e. sampling rate) and the implications involved when experimentally applying the IS-1 design. •Design and manufacture of IS-2 prototype along with the analysis of impact data for both the direct and indirect contact methods. •Development of data analysis software used to automate the detection of impact events and produce the desired metrics. Software greatly reduced the time needed to post-process data and allowed much larger sample sizes to be collected and analyzed in search of correlations. •Discovery of a correlation between the material under test and the post-impact behavior of the IS-2 prototype in both methods of operation. This provides a proof-of-concept for the Schmidt hammer system approach and can be refined and improved further for in-situ robotic operations. •IS-2 prototype tested in direct configuration for possible correlations to sample geometry, impact location, sample thickness, and materials of similar strength. •Discovery of correlations between materials of similar strength and the post-impact behavior of the IS-2 prototype in direct method of operation. •Filing of NASA New Technology Report for the design and development of the RISES Impact System (IS). •Standards developed for IS prototype testing and data analysis. •In-situ UPV off-axis and off-angular robotic integration testing at ARRM target sizes. Data analysis yielded that the RISES UPV system is applicable for ARRM target sizes. •Standards Developed for robotic UPV testing and data analysis.