Ladyfly POLITECNICO DI MILANO TEAM AND PROJECT PRESENTATION ESA - PDF document

Ladyfly POLITECNICO DI MILANO TEAM AND PROJECT PRESENTATION ESA Aurora Design Contest

Politecnico di Milano LADYFLY Project E S A A u r o r a D e s i g n C o n t e s t 1- T EAM MEMBERS Proof of N Name Nationality Data of birth Contact details studentship r stefano@ mangiarotti Team leader - .net Matr.N.625795 1 S tefano Mangiarotti Italian 8.05.1975 Tel :0039- 3289722989 spacelab@ polimi.it Graduate simone.rozzi@ libero. Matr.N.179871 2 S imone Rozzi Italian 29.10.1977 it sdeng77@ yahoo.it S tudent 3 Way S hing Loy Italian 25.04.1977 Matr.N.181991 namdalen@ libero.it S tudent 4 Alberto Bosetto Italian 03.12.1976 Matr.N.628629 datei.638073@ ilpoli.i S tudent 5 Lorenzo Datei Italian 16.07.1979 t Matr.N.638073 cristina.paul@ polimi. PhD. S tudent it 6 Elena Cristina Paul Rumanian 29.12.1976 elena.paul@ polimi.it Matr.D01433 Tel :0039- 3356700877 2 - S UPERVISING P ROFESSOR Prof.dr. ing. Alberto Rovetta Full Professor in the Group of Machine applied Mechanics with a chair in Robot Mechanics, Address: Prof. Ing. Alberto Rovetta, Dipartimento di Meccanica, Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci, 32 - -20133 Milan - Italy Tel.0039-02-23994720; fax 0039-02-70638377. Home: telephone/fax:0039-02-6701670 E-Mail alberto.rovetta@polimi.it 2

Politecnico di Milano LADYFLY Project E S A A u r o r a D e s i g n C o n t e s t 3 – T EAM NAME : LADYFLY The Mechanics Department of Politecnico di Milano and its Robotics Laboratory has a wide experience of design and implementation of robots. Among the themes proposed for the students’ yearly works in year 2002-2003 there was the Ladyfly concept for exploration of the soil of Mars. The final result of these yearly works is reflected in the design presented for this design contest. As the project implies also competences which are beyond those of the Mechanics Department, other Departments of Politecnico di Milano were involved and precisely the Electronics Department, the Electrical Department, the Industrial Design Department and the Aerospace Engineering Department. We wish also to thank Prof. Dr. C. Mazza, former ESA staff member, for his advise concerning space operations. The limit of 20 pages for the presentation of the design does not allow to attach the details of all the calculations, simulations and design activities performed. However, should these details be of interest, they can be provided on request. 4 - C ATEGORY : SURFACE ROBOTICS 5 - S UMMARY The Ladyfly design concept consists of a robotic system usable for Mars soil exploration. It is therefore compatible with the technologies relevant to the Aurora programme goals and scenarios. The design consists of a flotilla of five robots (one main and four smaller ones), deployed from a lander, to explore the Mars soil in preparation of a human mission to the red planet. The main robot, also called the scientific robot, carries the scientific detection instruments, whilst the four smaller ones have the capability of scanning the area to be explored and creating a map. Mapping data and soil features are then collected by the main robot and passed to the lander and from this relayed to the earth. The main robot is able to detect the nature of the materials of which the soil is constituted by means of a very efficient x-ray spectrometer. The robots have a double transmission system: on wheels, for plane motion, and on legs to overtake small obstacles. The wheels are mounted at the lower end 3

Politecnico di Milano LADYFLY Project E S A A u r o r a D e s i g n C o n t e s t of six legs. The motion is telecontrolled with capability of indipendent autonomous movements and working activities. All the robots are equipped with macro- and nanosensors, embedded in their body. The detection system is positioned at the centre of the main robot. The control software of the Ladyfly robots is similar , as concerns the integration of sensors and decisions on actions to be taken, to the neuromotor control of a human body. The following methodology has been applied for the design of the Ladyfly flotilla. We started initially from the external shape of the robots and their basic layout utilising simulation software and generating rendering images to give an immediate perception of the vehicles. The simulation software could reproduce the characteristics of the Martian soil, thus offering a realistic environment. We then went to determine the position of the main components, i.e. legs and wheels. Kinematic and dynamic simulation were performed with a simplified model, utilising the Adams software package. Finally all the subsystems and the instruments of which the robots are composed were studied in detail. Owing to the multidisciplinary nature of this project, a traditional approach with a centralised design would have been ineffective. We then decided to opt for a concurrent design methodology, based on workbooks realised with MS Excel sheets containing input and output data, exchange data, results and database tables. Each workgroup, i.e. each of the participating institutes of Politecnico di Milano, had his own workbook which was uploaded in a Ladyfly ftp site. Thanks to this technology the designers were able to share data, calculations and results and communicate quickly and reliably. We believe that the Ladyfly design concept would offer the following advantages The tasks to be performed, i.e. exploration of the soil and detection of its nature, are executed respectively by the four minor robots and by the main one. This separation of tasks allows a smaller size for the robots, therefore lower weight, swifter motion and lower energy consumption. In addition, the four minor robots operate as a team, thus reducing the time needed to explore the chosen areas. 4

Politecnico di Milano LADYFLY Project E S A A u r o r a D e s i g n C o n t e s t So far the rovers utilised for Mars soil exploration did not offer any element of redundancy and there were no possibility of any maintenance intervention. Therefore their reliability throughout the whole duration of a mission was inevitably limited. Having a flotilla of five robots is automatically an element of redundancy. The mission could continue also with a reduced team and even maintenance interventions are conceivable. Each of the robots can be utilised to monitor the status of the other ones and some maintenance interventions could be performed. For example, it would be conceivable to replace the solar cells when their efficiency is degraded, thus increasing the duration of a mission. 5