LEO Congress Enschede, 2011 Robotics in Space Challenges and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

LEO Congress Enschede, 2011 Robotics in Space – Challenges and European Developments Pantelis Poulakis European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC) Automation & Robotics Section

Outline What is ESA?  Challenges for robots in space  Robotics in orbit and in support to human exploration  Robotics in planetary exploration – Missions & Programmes  Robotics in planetary exploration – R&D at ESA  2

What is ESA? What is ESA? 3

Purpose of ESA “To provide for and promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European states in space research and technology and their space applications. ” 4

ESA facts & figures Over 40 years of experience  18 Member States, 19 in 2011  Five establishments in Europe, about  2200 permanent staff 4 billion Euro budget (2011)  Over 70 satellites designed, tested and  operated in flight 17 scientific satellites in operation  Six types of launcher developed  Celebrated the 200th launch of Ariane  in February 2011 5

ESA’s locations EAC ESTEC Salmijaervi (Cologne) (Noordwijk) (Kiruna) Harwell ESOC Brussels ESA HQ ESA sites/facilities (Darmstadt) Redu (Paris) Toulouse Offices Oberpfaffenhofen Cebreros, Villafranca ESA ground stations ESAC (Madrid) ESRIN (Rome) Moscow Santa Maria Washington Kourou Maspalomas Houston New Norcia Perth Malargüe 6

Challenges for robots in space Challenges for robots in space 7

Space robots are particular Technology for terrestrial robots is not immediately transferable to space! Design impacts due to: Cost & constraints for access to space  Harsh environment  Unique operational conditions  8

Access to space ARIANNE 5 Launcher (GTO example) Cost: 150M€ per launch  Payload: 6500kg  Cost per kg: 23k€  SOYUZ Launcher (Moon landing scenario) Cost: 70M€ per launch  Payload: 2500kg  Dry mass on the Moon surface: ~700kg  (few tens of kilos of instruments) 9

Space environment EXTREME RADIATION EXPOSURE • Electronics are subject to high energy electrons and heavy ions (single event upsets, latch-ups and burnouts) • Change of properties on materials • Shielding or rad-hard design required (Qualification is the bottleneck) EXTREME TEMPERATURES • Operation at extreme temperatures and high thermal gradients in space and time • Design for both hot and cold operation or need of active thermal control • (Example) Day cycle for Mars equatorial mission: -120°C to 110°C SURVIVE LAUNCH ENVIRONMENT • High static and dynamic accelerations and shock during launch, entry and landing • Design systems to survive and/or add support equipment • (Example): 32g sinusoidal vibration during launch, 50g deceleration during Martian landing MER in stowed configuration (courtesy of NASA/JPL) 10

Unique operational conditions OPERATION IN VACUUM • Outgassing of materials and lubricants • Need for use (and development) of special materials • Need to test and integrate in clean room and vacuum OPERATION IN EXTREMELY REMOTE ENVIRONMENT • No possibility to maintain/repair the system after launch (limited for the ISS) • Design for life • Redundancies and exhaustive testing are required • Certain levels of autonomy for fault management is essential (Verification is the bottleneck) b 11

Robotics in orbit and in support to human exploration Robotics in orbit and in support to human exploration 12

European Robotic Arm (ERA) PURPOSE: Installation and servicing of the Russian  segment on the ISS plus support and transfer of cosmonauts on EVAs CONFIGURATION & SPECS:  − Symmetrical with 7 joints (2 wrists, 1 elbow) − Total length: 11.3m − Mass: 630kg, Payload capability: 8 tons − Tip accuracy: 5mm PRIME CONTRACTOR: Dutch Space  LAUNCH:  − Planned for December 2012 − Training of Russian operators is ongoing at ESTEC 13

Eurobot PURPOSE: Astronaut assistant, able to find it’s way around the ISS exterior, perform close-  up inspections and carry out EVA preparatory work CONFIGURATION: Central body structure, with 3-7DoF arms and 4 interchangeable end effectors  STATUS: Development up to a Weightless Environmental Test  Model PRIME CONTRACTOR: TAS-I  Eurobot WET model at the ESA Neutral Buoyancy Facility in Cologne 14

Eurobot Ground Prototype (EGP) PURPOSE: Addresses the use of robotics in preparation  of human arrival and human assistance during presence on the moon CONFIGURATION: Centauri type robot with 2-7DoF  Eurobot arms and interchangeable end-effectors PRIME CONTRACTOR: TAS-I  STATUS:  − Field testing − R&D on system autonomy − R&D on MMI and anthropomorphic end-effectors EGP at the Rio Tinto test campaign (Top) EGP in the ESTEC Lunar analogue (Left) 15

Robotics in planetary exploration Robotics in planetary exploration missions & programmes missions & programmes 16

Mars Sample Return mission concept International collaboration for a system of multiple mission elements launched in a sequence of Mars opportunities (one landing site for multiple missions) 17

ExoMars mission (2016-2018) NASA Max-C Rover ESA ExoMars rover, orbiter & descent module 18

ExoMars mission (2016-2018) Under revision… …towards a common rover 19

ESA Mars Robotic Exploration Preparation programme (MREP) PURPOSE: Develop technology building blocks in increments for the European contribution  to the MSR campaign and beyond 20

Robotics in planetary planetary Robotics in exploration exploration R&D at ESA R&D at ESA 21

3DROV SCOPE: The 3DROV simulation environment aims at providing operational and system  design feedback, by incorporating and modelling all the essential elements: − Simulation Framework: ESA SimSat − Atmospheric Model: Mars Climate Database − Solar System Ephemeris Tool: NASA/NAIF Spice − Geographical Information System: GRASS GIS adapted for Mars PRIME CONTRACTOR: TRASYS SPACE  22

Mars Surface Sample Transfer & Manipulation (MSSTM) OBJECTIVES:  − Investigate the critical issues of a system providing the function to transfer samples from acquisition devices(s) to the Mars Ascent Vehicle in a generic Mars Sample Return scenario − Trade-off, design and prototype engineering solutions to increase TRL to 4-5 − Robustness of designs to mission changes IDENTIFIED CRITICAL (& GENERIC) AREAS:  − Interfaces between sample vessels and drill for the transfer of samples − Capping (and sealing) of the sample vessels − Interfaces between the robot and the sample container (i.e. Gripper, Grappling fixtures) − The overall control and sensing needs for the transfer operations MSR sample container with integrated sample vessels (Left) ExoMars drill for subsurface sample collection (Right) 23

Mars Surface Sample Transfer & Manipulation (MSSTM) PRIME CONTRACTOR: ASTRIUM UK  24

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) MOTIVATION:  − A typical rover configuration has more than 20 actuators − Thermally controlled motor drivers impose severe system complexity − High demand for “cold” electronics with a distributed (bus) architecture 25

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) DESIGN DRIVERS:  − Radiation tolerance − Extreme temperature operation (-55°C to 70°C) and survival (-120°C) − Onboard power conditioning (without which the harness simplification is compromised) − Failure propagation protection − Control 3-Brushed or 1-Brushless motors over CAN bus supporting various feedback sensors (encoder, pot, resolvers, hall, strain gage, thermistor) MCC KEY PACKAGE TECHOLOGY :  − Combination of MEMS building technology with space qualified soldering techniques − Use of bare dies to cope with environmental specs − High-density flip chip bonding for high temp range based on AAC XIVIA technology − 15x15 mm 2 for ProASIC Actel FPGA custom interposer PRIME CONTRACTOR: ANGSTROM AEROSPACE CORPORATION (AAC)  26

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) LEON3 processor (25MHz, 32bit, 17MIPS)  2MB SRAM  16Mbit Flash  ADC, 12bit, 500KHz  CAN transceiver  Galvanicaly isolated comms  27

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) Self resonant fly-back architecture  Input +28V  Outputs: ±12, 7V, 5V  Miniaturised point-of-load from 7V & 12V  to 3.3V and 2.5V 28

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) 3 H-Bridges (28V @ 5A)  3 Heaters (90W)  Sensor interfacing to the ADCs & Temp measurement  EMI filtering  29

Miniaturized Motor Controller for Space Applications (MCC) Some figures: – Dissipation: Standby (<6W), Nominal (8W) – Mass: 300gr (casing & connectors: 270gr) – Digital current control loop @ 10kHz – PI velocity control loop @ 1 kHz – PID position control loop @ 1kHz 30