In a time of “America First,” the benefits of space travel are clouded by the smoke of hyperbole. In reality, there has been over 2,000 inventions courtesy of NASA that are making our lives better here on Earth. Every day, we benefit as much from the journey as from the destination. These innovations include new medicines developed in zero gravity; faster autonomous transportation technologies; and groundbreaking advances in computing (launched above the clouds). The map below illustrates the number of commercial endeavors that have spun out of the nation’s space program since 1976:

NASA has been an incubator of technology since its inception in 1959. This year, NASA unveiled a new web page illustrating its reach into the design of new smart cities and IoT connected homes, called NASA City. This addition to the already extensive NASA site comes on the heels of President Trump’s proposed budget cut of NASA’s funding that would end earth-centric education and innovations, including protecting the planet from an apocalyptic asteroid.  

According to the President’s outline, “the budget increases cooperation with industry through the use of public-private partnerships, focuses on the nation’s efforts on deep space exploration rather than Earth-centric research, and develops technologies that would achieve U.S. space goals and benefit the economy.”

This past week, I visited the Kennedy Space Center to learn firsthand how our lives have been positively changed by the sacrifices of the brave men and women who risked everything for humanity. As a small testimony to these lives lost in the pursuit of science, I have included below a list from NASA’s website of the top innovations we use every day

Health & Medicine

• LED (Light-Emitting Diodes) Lighting –  The LED technology used in space shuttle plant growth experiments has contributed to the development of medical devices to relive “minor muscle and joint pain, arthritis, stiffness, and muscle spasms, and also promotes muscle relaxation and increases local blood circulation.” In fact, the U.S. Department of Defense uses LEDs now as a “soldier self-care” system to treat minor injuries and pain and to improve endurance in combat.
• Infrared Ear Thermometers – NASA developed this thermometer using “infrared astronomy technology to measure the amount of energy emitted by the eardrum, the same way the temperature of stars and planets are measured.”
• Artificial Limbs – NASA’s space robotic and extravehicular activities have now been applied to create more “functionally dynamic artificial limbs.” Additionally, temper foam was developed by NASA which prevents friction between the skin and the prosthetic.
• Ventricular Assist Device – The ventricular assist device (VAD) functions as a “bridge to heart transplant” by pumping blood throughout the body to keep critically ill patients alive until a donor heart is available. “Weighing less than 4 ounces and measuring 1 by 3 inches, the pump is approximately one-tenth the size of other currently marketed pulsatile VADs, making it ideal for children.

Transportation

• Anti-Icing Systems – NASA scientists developed a thermoelectric deicing system called Thermawing, a DC-powered air conditioner for single-engine aircraft called Thermacool. This allows “pilots to safely fly through ice encounters and provides pilots of single-engine aircraft the heated wing technology usually reserved for larger, jet-powered craft.”
• Highway Safety – The cutting of grooves in concrete to increase traction and prevent injury was first developed for the Space Shuttle to reduce aircraft accidents on wet runways. It was later expanded into highway and pedestrian applications.
• Improved Radial Tires – “Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company developed a fibrous material, five times stronger than steel, for NASA to use in parachute shrouds to soft-land the Vikings on the Martian surface.” Goodyear later added this technology to its new radial tire to increase tread life by over 10,000 miles.
• Chemical Detection – Moisture and pH-sensitive sensors were created to warn NASA of potentially dangerous corrosive conditions in the Space Shuttle before significant structural damage occurred. This new type of sensor was later adapted by the Department of Defense for detecting chemical warfare agents and potential threats, such as toxic industrial compounds and nerve agents.

Public Safety

• Video Enhancing and Analysis Systems – Video Image Stabilization and Registration technology used by NASA in space is now in the hands of FBI agents to analyze video footage.  Aside from law enforcement and security applications, the technology has also been adapted to serve military professionals for reconnaissance, weapons deployment, damage assessment, training, and mission debriefing.
• Land Mine Removal – NASA utilizes its surplus rocket fuel “to produce a flare that can safely destroy land mines,” that is able “to reduce propellant waste without negatively impacting the environment.” The flare uses solid rocket fuel to burn a hole in the mine’s case and burn away the explosive contents before it is safely disarmed.
• Fire-Resistant Reinforcement – “The Apollo heat shield was coated with a material whose purpose was to burn and thus dissipate energy during reentry while charring, to form a protective coating to block heat penetration.” Now the the heat shield coating is being used in fire-retardant paints and aircraft foams for aircraft, including a new “intumescent epoxy material” that expands when exposed to heat.
• Firefighter Gear – Firefighting equipment widely used throughout the United States is based on a NASA development that coupled Agency design expertise with lightweight materials developed for the U.S. Space Program.

Consumer, Home, & Recreation

• Temper Foam – “As the result of a program designed to develop a padding concept to improve crash protection” for the Shuttle and airplane passengers, NASA developed temper foam or “memory foam.” The material is now in most mattresses and pillows.
• Enriched Baby Food – “Commercially available infant formulas now contain a nutritional enrichment ingredient that traces its existence to NASA-sponsored research that explored the potential of algae as a recycling agent for long-duration space travel.” The ingredient can now be found in over 90% of infant formulas sold worldwide.
• Portable Cordless Vacuums – Wireless drills and other appliances were created by Black & Decker for the Apollo and Gemini space missions. “For the Apollo space mission, NASA required a portable, self-contained drill capable of extracting core samples from below the lunar surface.” This invention later led to the development of the Dustbuster.
• Freeze Drying Technology – “In planning for the long-duration Apollo missions, NASA conducted extensive research into space food. One of the techniques developed was freeze drying.” The benefits were amazing as freeze drying food kept 98% of the nutrients but weighing 80% less, which is now used to help help homebound seniors maintain a healthy diet.

Environmental & Agricultural Resources

• Harnessing Solar Energy – Solar energy was first utilized in space, and now “homes across the country are now being outfitted with modern, high-performance, low-cost, single crystal silicon solar power cells that allow them to reduce their traditional energy expenditures and contribute to pollution reduction.”
• Pollution Remediation – “A product using NASA’s microencapsulating technology is available to consumers and industry enabling them to safely and permanently clean petroleum-based pollutants from water.” This technology was recently deployed in the cleanup of catastrophic oil spills such as BP’s Deep Water Horizon and the Exxon Valdez. 
• Water Purification – As part of designing a complex system of devices intended to sustain the astronauts living on the International Space Station and, in the future, those who go on to explore Mars, NASA has been turning wastewater from respiration, sweat, and urine into drinkable water for years. This technology is now available for underdeveloped countries where well water may be heavily contaminated.

Computer Technology

• Better Software – NASA is collaborating with tech companies like Google and InterSense “to solve a variety of challenging technical problems ranging from large-scale data management and massively distributed computing, to human-computer interfaces—with the ultimate goal of making the vast, scattered ocean of data more accessible and usable” both in space and on Earth.
• Structural Analysis – NASA has created thousands of computer programs over the decades to design, test, and analyze stress, vibration, and acoustical properties of a broad assortment of aerospace parts and structures (before prototyping even begins). The NASA Structural Analysis Program is now used to design everything from Cadillacs to roller coasters.
• Refrigerated Internet-Connected Wall Ovens – Everything on the International Space Station is monitored and controlled via the Internet, even the oven named “ConnectIo.” ConnectIo is unique as it enables a “user to simply enter the dinner time, and the oven automatically switches from refrigeration to the cooking cycle,” so the meal is ready when the astronaut (or Earth-bound human) is at the table.

Industrial Productivity

• Powdered Lubricants – NASA developed a solid lubricant coating material originally for its aeropropulsion engines, refrigeration compressors, turbochargers, and hybrid electrical turbogenerators. This technology is now saving industrial companies millions of dollars by improving efficiency, lowering friction, and reducing emissions in widespread industrial equipment.
• Improved Mine Safety – “An ultrasonic bolt elongation monitor developed by a NASA scientist for testing tension and high-pressure loads on bolts” is now used for a plethora of applications from the evaluation of railroad ties to groundwater analysis to radiation dosimetry to medical testing for intracranial pressure.
• Food Safety Systems – “Faced with the problem of how and what to feed an astronaut in a sealed capsule under weightless conditions while planning for human space flight, NASA enlisted the aid of The Pillsbury Company to address two principal concerns: eliminating crumbs of food that might contaminate the spacecraft’s atmosphere and sensitive instruments, and assuring absolute freedom from potentially catastrophic disease-producing bacteria and toxins.” Today HACCP is utilized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the handling of seafood, juice, and dairy products.

NASA’s latest private-sector partnership is expanding into enabling the autonomous mobile future. Last year, the space agency teamed up with automaker Nissan to integrate and test autonomous technologies that have been deployed for over two decades on its Mars rovers in consumer ready cars. The partnership’s goal is to have a fully autonomous car on the road by 2020.

According to Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, “The work of NASA and Nissan—with one directed to space and the other directed to earth—is connected by similar challenges. The partnership will accelerate Nissan’s development of safe, secure and reliable autonomous drive technology that we will progressively introduce to consumers beginning in 2016 up to 2020.”

The two organizations have cooperated on technological development in the past. For instance, Nissan used NASA’s research on neutral body posture in low-gravity conditions to develop more comfortable car seats. But hardware and software for self-driving cars could prove to be some of the most transformative technologies to reach mainstream acceptance in the coming years. Nissan joins Google’s Waymo on the Ames Research Center autonomous testing track.

In addition to the Ames facility, the Kennedy Space Center announced last month that it will convert the “Shuttle Landing Facility runway” to a controlled testing ground of driverless cars, as part of its contribution to the Central Florida Automated Vehicle Partnership. This announcement on the heels of its second showing at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. NASA made a point of displaying, in particular, its tech transfer program for autonomous cars and robotics.

Terry Fong, director of the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group said, “NASA’s open-source software, VERVE (Visual Environment for Remote and Virtual Exploration), provides the foundation for human-robot teaming in Nissan’s new ‘Seamless Autonomous Mobility’ (SAM) system and CES is a great venue for showcasing this spin-off technology to the general public. VERVE allows humans to provide assistance to autonomous vehicles in unpredictable and difficult situations when the vehicles cannot solve the problem themselves.”

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If you enjoyed this article about space robotics, you may also want to read:

• Should both the successes and failures of space robots curb the ambition of a manned Mars mission?
• Schiaparelli, are you there? The high risks of space robotics again crash home
• Robohub roundtable: Robotics and space exploration
• Space for the masses as helium balloons and remote control planes reach through the stratosphere

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Photo: Gretchen Ertl

Sarah Hensley is preparing an astronaut named Valkyrie for a mission to Mars. It is 6 feet tall, weighs 300 pounds, and is equipped with an extended chest cavity that makes it look distinctly female. Hensley spends much of her time this semester analyzing the movements of one of Valkyrie’s arms.

As a fourth-year electrical engineering student at MIT, Hensley is working with a team of researchers to prepare Valkyrie, a humanoid robot also known as R5, for future space missions. As a teenager in New Jersey, Hensley loved to read in her downtime, particularly Isaac Asimov’s classic robot series. “I’m a huge science fiction nerd — and now I’m actually getting to work with a robot that’s real and not just in books. That’s like, wow.”

Hensley is studying Valkyrie for an advanced independent research program, or SuperUROP, as one of only three undergraduate students in the Robot Locomotion Group in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Most of her colleagues are graduate-level researchers and postdocs with extensive experience working on complex humanoids. The group is led by professor of electrical engineering and computer science Russ Tedrake, who successfully programmed Valkyrie’s predecessor (named Atlas) to open doors, turn valves, drill holes, climb stairs, and drive a car for the DARPA Robotics Challenge in 2015.

Valkyrie has 28 torque-controlled joints, four body cameras, and more than 200 individual sensors, Hensley says. The robot can walk, bend its joints, and turn a door handle. “This is one of the most advanced robots in the world. And it’s 20 feet from my desk,” she adds.

That’s largely because Valkyrie has a long way to go before it leaves for Mars. MIT is one of three institutions, including Northeastern University and the University of Edinburgh, that NASA selected to develop software enabling the robot to perform space-related tasks — open airlock hatches, attach and remove power cables, repair equipment, and retrieve samples. Oh yeah, and get to its feet when it falls down.

Hensley, who started in the lab over the summer, is intrigued by the challenge of harmonizing the movements of such a highly complex system. “I am trying to solve a very tricky problem,” she says. She’s working out how best to control Valkyrie’s elbow movements by comparing two potential approaches. One uses a main controller to gather information from the various motor systems within the arm, and then uses that data to make accurate movement decisions. The other approach is decentralized, and leaves it to each motor system to decide and act on its own.

Hensley gets animated discussing the alternatives. “Is it better to have multiple decision makers with access to different information? Or is better to have one decision maker choosing all of the motor inputs?” she asks. Hensley has already been accepted into a master’s degree program in electrical engineering at MIT. She hopes to be able to continue her work on Valkyrie.

Every day, Hensley leaves Tau Epsilon Phi, her co-ed fraternity house in the Back Bay; walks across the Massachusetts Ave. bridge to the Stata Center; and plants herself in front of two large monitors in the robotics lab. She analyzes a wealth of scientific literature and writes code for computer simulations of the equations that move the robot’s arm. Sometimes she gets up for peppermint tea, or to peer around the corner of her cubicle at Valkyrie.

One thing is certain, says Hensley. Pop culture fears that machines may soon prove superior to humans are laughable. When Valkyrie is turned on and moves, Hensley says, it often “kind of shivers and falls down. One thing you realize working in this lab is that we are really far away from the robot apocalypse,” she quips. “Sometimes robots work, and sometimes they don’t. That’s our challenge.”

Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

After five years of competition by more than 40 different teams from around the globe, NASA’s Sample Return Robot Challenge has reached its final stage. The top seven teams will compete for the $1.36 million prize purse on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, Sept. 4-6.

In this final round of the challenge, teams have up to two hours each to locate as many as 10 unknown samples that vary in size, shape, location and difficulty. The samples are classified as easy, intermediate and hard and are assigned corresponding point values. One team could win the entire prize purse, or multiple teams could share a percentage of the prize.

The three-day event will conclude with an awards ceremony and press conference at 11:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 6, at the Quadrangle at WPI. WPI is located at 100 Institute Road in Worcester.

Participants at the press conference will be:

• Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts
• NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
• Laurie Leshin, president, WPI
• Dennis Andrucyk, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate

Qualifying teams for the final round are:

• Team Al – Toronto, Canada
• Alabama Astrobotics – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• MAXed Out – Santa Clara, California
• Mind & Iron – Seattle, Washington
• Sirius – South Hadley, Massachusetts
• Survey – Los Angeles
• West Virginia University Mountaineers – Morgantown, West Virginia

Prior to this final round of competition, the teams competed in Level 1, where robots had to return two known sample types but from an unknown location within 30 minutes without human control or the aid of Earth-based technologies, such as GPS or magnetic compassing. Since the challenge began in 2012, only seven teams have advanced to Level 2.

The Sample Return Robot Challenge, part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program, aims to encourage innovation in robotics technologies relevant to space exploration and broader applications that benefit life on Earth. This event brings together tech-savvy citizens, entrepreneurs, educators and students to demonstrate robots that can locate and collect geologic samples from a wide and varied landscape without human control and within a specified time.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program is part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). STMD uses challenges to gather the best and brightest minds in academia, industry and government to drive innovation and enable solutions in important technology focus areas. WPI has hosted the Sample Return Robot Challenge since it began in 2012.

The event will be streamed live at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

For more information about the competition, visit their website.

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

NASA’s “Valkyrie” robot is 6 feet tall and weighs 290 pounds. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will test and develop the bot for future space missions. Photo: NASA

The Space Robotics Competition is open for teams to develop and display the abilities of an R5 robot by assisting in the procedures for a NASA mission to Mars, offering a $1 million prize pool for successful teams. The competition involves programming a virtual R5 robot through a series of tasks presented in a virtual environment using Gazebo software.

Three tasks are aimed to simulate what a robot may need to do while assisting a NASA mission to Mars: align a communications array, repair a solar array, and identify and repair a leak in the habitat. Winners are chosen based on the ability to complete the tasks, steps within them, and duration to complete the tasks.

Registration is open now, with the final round of competition to be held June 2017. Winners will be announced at the end of June at Space Center Houston. You can download the official rules for the challenge here.

For more information, visit www.spaceroboticschallenge.com and www.spacecenter.org.

If you liked this article, you may also want to read:

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• ‘Moon Shot’ nine-part documentary series available on YouTube
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• Video: Panel discussion celebrating 10 years of the Mars Exploration Rover
• Air, water, energy and food in a nutshell: Space exploration as driver for sustainable robotic agriculture

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Image: The Construct

By Miguel Angel

One of the most wanted robot simulations is a robot that can be used for anything. Robonaut is one like this. NASA kindly gave this simulation for public use and we thought here in The Construct that we could use it to make an even better user-friendly version. We created a test to demonstrate the possibilities that The Construct has to offer in Space Zero gravity simulations. We also envisioned this as a proof of concept of how The Construct could be used as a platform for competitions such as RoboCup, special for Space Exploration themes.

To launch this simulation you simply have to select the Robonaut2 simulation and select the following launch: $r2_robocup_at_space_1.launch

And there you have it! All the technical hassle was solved by The Construct and you have a ready to use Robonaut. This launch will spawn the torso version of Robonaut, with all its controllers in a zero gravity space. It will also spawn a taskboard full of functional buttons and switches without the third panel which will be spawned separately. One it’s done, you should get something like this:

Image: The Construct

To check that Robonaut is functioning correctly, it should have its arms in an L shape ready to start moving like in the picture above. Once all is running, please check that the taskboard is publishing. The taskboard publishes in a topic the state of the switches and buttons in the panel. In this early version, it only tracks the three lower switches and the security switch on the top right-hand corner of the first panel. To check all the taskboard systems are working, this is the correct output to the following command in the Webshell:

$rostopic info /taskboard/TaskboardPanelA

Type:
gazebo_taskboard/TaskboardPanelA
Publishers: * /taskboard_state_tracker
Subscribers: * /taskboard_systems_actuator

You should see the publisher of the Topic and a subscriber that controls when to activate the magnet that maintains the panel to be placed in position.

Image: The Construct

Image: The Construct

Image: The Construct

Image: The Construct

Once you are ready just launch the grab and place panel 3 launch:

Source: The Construct

This will reset the power switch and the panel to their starting positions.
Once done, Robonaut will start moving to grab the panel.

Source: The Construct

Source: The Construct

Source: The Construct

Once grabbed, it will place it just in front of the desired spot.

Source: The Construct

Then it will activate the magnet by firstly opening the security lid and then activating the power switches. Once activated, the panel will receive a force that will hopefully place it inside the taskboard.

Source: The Construct

This launch can be executed as many time as you like, so that there is no need of relaunching the simulation every time. There are other features that you might want to explore like the “model_destination_validator.py” which you can use to evaluate correct placing of objects based on their relative position to prior placed markers. Very useful for unsupervised learning and competitions.

Here is a full-length demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QABa4pbk4qs

Come on, try it! We would love to see intelligent algorithms and systems to make Robonaut work as a charm!

SpaceX Falcon 9 landed on the drone ship. Source: SpaceX/flickr

After several unsuccessful attempts, SpaceX finally made a perfect touchdown with its Falcon 9 rocket on the drone ship, aptly named: ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’  A historic moment with the help of a drone ship.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT) on 8 April from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SpaceX streamed live video of the historic rocket landing during the launch, a feat that capped a smooth cargo launch for NASA:

After separating from Dragon a few minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage performed several flyback engine burns, then eventually lowered itself vertically onto a SpaceX drone ship that was stationed off the Florida coast. Having reusable rockets is a big component of SpaceX’s plan to drive down the cost of space flights. That includes reducing the payload of re-fuelling.

The 1st stage of the Falcon 9 just landed on our Of Course I Still Love You droneship. Dragon in good orbit pic.twitter.com/SYyUCDZE3k

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2016

Why land on a floating drone ship?

The drone ships are capable of maneuvering autonomously, using GPS information for precision positioning, but they can also be remotely controlled by an accompanying support ship with a crew of technicians standing by. The reason for moving the landing site from land to the ocean is because of fuel. Having different rockets and payloads will require different amounts of fuel. For a ground landing, the rocket needs extra fuel to slow its arc, completely flip around, and then retread its horizontal and vertical distance to land safely. But with an ocean landing the drone can place itself down range, in the ideal place to catch the rocket booster on a more natural path when it comes down, decreasing how much fuel it needs to maneuver for a safe landing.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said a launch with a previously used first stage could be priced 30 percent less than the current Falcon 9 rockets.

The “Of Course I Still Love You,” which received the first successful Falcon 9 landing April 8th, 2016. Photo: SpaceX

But it’s not without difficulties. During the post-launch press conference SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented: “It’s quite a tiny target. It’s like trying to land on a postage stamp there,” Musk said. “It’s like a carrier landing versus a land landing.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNygOavo2mY

However SpaceX proved, if nothing else, that it can be done:

Onboard view of landing in high winds pic.twitter.com/FedRzjYYyQ — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 9, 2016

Here are a few more images from the historic landing. 

Falcon 9 positioning itself over drone ship. Source: SpaceX/Flickr

Falcon 9 landing on drone ship. Source: SpaceX/Flickr

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Despite hard landing, Falcon 9 recovery attempt bodes well for future of reusable spacecraft
• Blue Origin successfully tests autonomous suborbital system
• SpaceX delivers 11 satellites and successfully lands a first stage on land

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

NASA’s “Valkyrie” robot is 6 feet tall and weighs 290 pounds. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will test and develop the bot for future space missions. Photo: NASA

By Adam Conner-Simons, MIT CSAIL

NASA announced yesterday that MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is one of two university research groups nationwide that will receive a 6-foot, 290-pound humanoid robot to test and develop for future space missions to Mars and beyond.

A group led by CSAIL principal investigator Russ Tedrake will develop algorithms for the robot, known as “Valkyrie” or “R5,” as part of NASA’s upcoming Space Robotics Challenge, which aims to create more dexterous autonomous robots that can help or even take the place of humans “extreme space” missions. (NASA’s challenge is divided into a virtual competition using robotic simulations, and a physical competition using the robot.)

Tedrake’s team, which was selected from groups that were entered in this year’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge, will receive as much as $250,000 a year for two years from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directive.

Exploring deep space by bot

NASA says it is interested in humanoid robots because they can help or even replace astronauts working in extreme space environments. Robots like R5 could be used in future missions either as precursor robots performing mission tasks before humans arrive or as human-assistive robots collaborating with the human crew. While R5 was initially designed to complete disaster-relief maneuvers, its main goal is now to prove itself worthy of even trickier terrain: deep-space exploration.

“Advances in robotics, including human-robotic collaboration, are critical to developing the capabilities required for our journey to Mars,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a NASA press release. “We are excited to engage these university research groups to help NASA with this next big step in robotics technology development.”

Autonomy for autos, robots and more

As head of CSAIL’s Robot Locomotion Group, Tedrake has extensive experience with autonomous robots. Over the past three years he led a team of more than 20 researchers to develop algorithms for a government competition to get another 6-foot-tall humanoid robot named Atlas to open doors, turn valves, drill holes, climb stairs, scramble over cinder blocks, and drive a car — all in the space of one hour.

Tedrake is also part of CSAIL’s new $25 million Toyota-funded research center for autonomous cars, specifically focused on advanced decision-making algorithms and systems that allow vehicles to perceive and navigate their surroundings safely, without human input. The larger collaboration will be coordinated by Gill Pratt PhD ’89, a former MIT professor who most recently served as program director at DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

In addition to Tedrake’s team at CSAIL, NASA also awarded a R5 robot to a team led by Taskin Padir at Northeastern University.

US President Barack Obama linked robots and jobs in his sixth State of the Union address this Tuesday. The State of the Union Address is usually delivered annually by the President in a joint session of the US Congress, and is a platform for highlighting the President’s legislative agenda and national priorities.

Obama began by offering a positive link between technology as a driver for employment and business opportunity. “I want Americans to win the race for the kind of discoveries that unleash new jobs,” he said, giving the examples of DARPA’s robotic prosthetics program and NASA’s program to send US astronauts to Mars.

However, following these remarks he immediately launched into cautionary words about the negative effects of income inequality on the moral state of the country: “When it comes to issues like infrastructure and basic research, I know there is bipartisan support in this chamber. Where we too often run into the rocks is how to pay for these investments. We don’t mind paying our fair share of taxes as long as everybody else does too.” He went on to discuss the need to end tax breaks that encourage companies to shift profits overseas and to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.

NASA also said:

Once renovations are complete, Hangar One will again be home to high-tech innovation as Planetary Ventures begins using the historic facility for research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies. Hangars Two and Three will be used for similar purposes.

 

This news comes on the heals of Google’s investment in Magic Leap last month, as well the announcement of Andy Rubin’s departure.

Orbital Science corp. Antares orb-3, pre-launch (photo: NASA)

A very unfortunate incident for NASA and the commercial orbital transportation services program took place yesterday. The Antares rocket that was about to send the Cygnus spacecraft on the ISS exploded a few seconds after its launch from NASA’s Wallops flight facilities. No casualties or even small injuries were reported, although the area is being contained and treated with caution. It is a major incident for US spaceflight that breaks a trouble-free period and could have important implications for the private spaceflight sector.

The Antares launcher and the Cygnus spacecraft it was carrying were both developed and operated by Orbital Sciences corporation, one of the two private companies (along with SpaceX) under contract from NASA for supplying the International Space Station with cargo, supplies and secondary experimental, and commercial ISS payload. The video below shows that the explosion started from the base of the rocket, close to the nozzles, while the rest above was intact. The first stage engines are the major suspect but it is still too early to know exactly what went wrong.

As stated by NASA’s press conference, the flight termination system was activated. This is a remote manual intervention that initiates a self-destruction mechanism when the vehicle’s attitude is beyond recovery or control, in order to contain the damage from any explosion or debris in the launch area. As you can see in the launch video and the video below (shot from a small airplane from a distance) the explosion was huge. Even hours later, fires caused by kerosene and solid propellant were still burning.

Unlike SpaceX, which is almost completely vertically integrated, Orbital outsources most of its components and focuses on system integration and design. Antares is a two-stage rocket, and in its first stage it uses a pair of liquid propellant motors originally designed (and constructed!) during the ‘60s for the Soviet N-1 rocket. Despite their age, these motors are highly advanced, more so than most contemporary rocket engines. They were constructed as NK-33s in Russia but they are refurbished from US Company Aerojet (and renamed AJ26). It is too early to attribute the accident to these engines but it is worth mentioning that the use of Russian rocket engines from US operators recently became a very sensitive matter. The Ukraine crisis and the US/Europe sanctions are placing Orbital and ULA (the USA defense contractor for space launches that also use Russian made RD-180 engines) in an uncomfortable position. A side-effect of that crisis is a boost to the US private sector, which could step in and fill the gap created by the withdrawal of Russian engines from US launches.

(photo: Orbital Sciences corp.)

That may be beneficial for the private sector in general but not so for Orbital, which could face delays until this mishap is resolved. Meanwhile, the competition from SpaceX and established companies like Lockheed and Boeing is very strong. During the press conference that took place shortly after the accident, NASA official stated their satisfaction from the way Orbital operates and their will to resume Antares/Cygnus missions after the accident investigation is resolved.

The COTS program, apart from its obvious mission of ISS resupply, also aims to validate the privately developed Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft. Both usually have room and payload to spare so they’re used extensively for transporting experiments. The Cygnus cargo vehicle destroyed on this accident was carrying a lot of small satellites owned by schools, universities and startups. For example, Planet labs, an earth imaging startup lost 26 small satellites that were on board. Orbital stated that the payload is insured, although the extent of the coverage and the details are different for each client and contract. The rocket and general hardware is also at least partially covered, and as stated on the press conference, NASA and Orbital will find a way to deal with the cost of any replacements.

Any correlation between payload and this accident is practically impossible, so the rules and requirements should not change for the next missions. However, Orbital’s system could take some time until it resumes the rest of its contracted missions, and the delay or additional modifications may raise the payload cost. It could also indirectly raise the payload cost for other operators simply by reducing supply. Insurance prices could also increase and the total cost for a school, research team or startup may be bigger for future missions. Nevertheless, today there is unprecedented activity over commercial spaceflight, even if we are still very far away from the glory days of nationally funded Apollo or Space Shuttle. Competition will certainly make access to space easier and cheaper for everyone, even with occassional incidents like this along the way.

Robots, selfies and remote connectedness … It may be a lonely place to celebrate an anniversary, but on June 24th, Curiosity made the universe that much smaller – and robots that much more ubiquitous – by snapping a selfie to mark its one year anniversary on planet Mars. This photo will surely go down in history as a sign of the times.

To help celebrate Curiosity’s achievements, we’ve compiled a brief list of links, articles and videos that show just how far the Mars mission has come.

NASA press release reviews the first Martian year and the advances of MSL’s very succesful mission so far.

You can access all the photos (in RAW format also) from JPL’s dedicated MSL website as well as read NASA’s Curiosity webpage.

We covered Curiosity’s mission since its launch on November 2011 up until now, you can access all our articles here:

Robohub – MSL Curiosity articles

PS. Something a little more fun, in the tumblr blog named Martian Wiggles you can find a compilation of animated gifs made from the raw images provided by JPL like the following showing images from Left Navcam, during Sol 283:

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Space Robotics coverage on Robohub 
• Robot selfies, and the road to self-recognition
• Space mining: Robots in the final frontier
• Robots Podcast: Space business

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

NASA came up with the answer recently when their teams began putting one of its humanoid robots through medical school. Should a medical incident arise in space that human crew members are unable to deal with themselves, the robo-doc will be there to save the day. Once trained, the robot doctor should be able to complete basic medical procedures unassisted. For more complicated procedures, an earth-based physician could control the robot via telepresence.

After its training is complete, the $2.5 million Robonaut 2, designed to assist astronauts with their duties both inside and outside the International Space Station, will be able to add medical practices to its resume.

Medical training is a complex and lengthy process, even for a robot. Unfortunately there is no super-software that can be uploaded to the robot to make it become an instant medical expert. But one of R2′s instructors, Dr. Zsolt Garami, M.D. says that the robot is a quick learner; in one hour it can pick up as much as it takes human medical student one week to learn.

R2 joined its mechanical twin Robonaut 1 aboard the International Space Station on August 22, 2013. Unlike R1, which is just a head and torso, R2 has been given motorized legs and is much more dexterous. Software may be upgraded in the future to allow R2 to move around the stations interior and perform routine maintenance tasks such as cleaning filters. Other upgrades may enable the robot to work outside the space station to perform repairs and maintenance checks when there is no call for medical assistance.

In the not too distant future, robotic doctors could be beneficial for patients here on earth where they could perform telesurgery in remote areas or where specialist surgeons are not available. It’s also reassuring to know that by the time humans are ready to colonize Mars, Robonaut doctors will be there to lend a healing hand.

Curiosity Heading for Mount Sharp, during the 329th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (July 9, 2013). The turret of tools at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm is in the foreground, with the rover’s rock-sampling drill in the lower left corner of the image. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Tuesday, Jan. 7, 10:30AM – 12PM Eastern Time:  NASA and the Smithsonian team up to facilitate two panel discussions on Mars robotic and human missions. Held in NASM’s Moving Beyond Earth gallery, participants will discuss the MER program and its scientific successes. Participants also will provide updates on the agency’s activities to advance a human mission to Mars in the 2030s.

Panel I: Moderator – Pamela Conrad, Curiosity rover scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

• John Grant
• Steven Squyres
• David Lavery, program executive, Solar System Exploration, NASA HQ

Panel II: Moderator – James Green, director, Planetary Science, NASA HQ

• John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ
• Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology, NASA HQ
• John Connolly, acting Chief Exploration Scientist, NASA HQ
• Alyssa Carson, NASA Passport Winner and student from Baton Rouge, LA.

Ask questions via Twitter using the hashtag #10YrsOnMars and #MER10.

Tweets about “#10YrsOnMars, OR #MER10 lang:en”

Four more student-built CubeSat research satellites were launched into space early this morning as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides opportunities for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned for upcoming launches. Created by NASA to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, the initiative reaches students by introducing educational spaceflight in high schools and colleges across the United States. 

The cube-shaped satellites, which are flown as auxiliary payloads on previously planned missions, measure 10x10x10 cm on each side and weigh less than 1.33 kilos. Over the next few months, the student CubeSat teams will receive data from their satellites in space, and, as part of their agreement with NASA, will provide the agency a report on their outcomes and scientific findings.

This batch of CubeSats were prepared by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and students at Medgar Evers College at the City University of New York; Montana State University in Bozeman; and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Read the current Mission Fact Sheet, or learn more about about other student CubSat projects here.

Why aren’t there more intelligent mobile robots in real world applications? It’s a good question, and one I’m often asked. The answer I give most often is that it’s because we’re still looking for that game changing killer app – the robotics equivalent of the spreadsheet for PCs. Sometimes I place the blame on a not-quite-yet-solved technical deficit – like poor sensing, or sensor fusion, or embedded AI; in other words, our intelligent robots are not yet smart enough. Or I might cite a not-fully-developed-capability, like robots not able to cope with unpredictable (i.e. human) environments, or we can’t yet assure that our robots are safe, and dependable.

Last week at euRathlon 2013 I realised that these answers are all wrong. Actually that would be giving myself credit where none is due. The answer to the question: why aren’t there more intelligent mobile robots in real world applications was pointed out by several of the presenters at the euRathlon 2013 workshop, but most notably by our keynote speaker Shinji Kawatsuma, from the Japan Atomic Energy Authority (JAEA). In an outstanding talk Kawatsuma explained, with disarming frankness, that, although his team had robots they were poorly prepared to use those robots in the Fukushima Daiichi NPP, because the systems for deployment were not in place. The robots are not enough. Just as important are procedures and protocols for robot deployment in an emergency; mobile infrastructure, including vehicles to bring the robots to the emergency, which are capable – as he vividly explained – of negotiating a road system choked with debris (from the Tsunami) and strained with other traffic (rescue workers and evacuees); integration with other emergency services; and, above all, robot operators trained, practised and confident to guide the robots through whatever hazards they will face in the epicentre of the disaster.

In summing up the lessons learned from robots at Fukushima, Shinji Kawatsuma offered this advice – actually it was more of a heartfelt plea: don’t build robots, build robot systems. And, he stressed, those systems must include operator training programmes. It was a powerful message for all of us at the workshop. Intelligent robots are endlessly fascinating machines, with all kinds of difficult design challenges, so it’s not surprising that our attention is focussed on the robots themselves. But we need to understand that real world robots are like movie stars – who (despite what they might think) wouldn’t be movie stars at all without the supporting cast, camera and sound crews, writers, composers, special effects people and countless other departments that make the film industry. Take the Mars rover Curiosity – an A-list movie star of robotics. Curiosity could not do its job without an extraordinary supporting infrastructure that, firstly, delivered her safely to the surface of Mars and, secondly, allows Curiosity’s operators to direct her planetary science exploration.

So, to return to my question why aren’t there more intelligent mobile robots in real world applications. The answer is plain. It’s because without supporting systems: infrastructure and skilled operators integrated and designed to meet the real world need, a robot – regardless of how innovative and intelligent it is – will never make the transition from the lab to the real world. Without those systems that robot will remain no more than a talented but undiscovered actor.

Hans-Arthur Marsiske, The use of robots in Fukushima: Shinji Kawatsuma Interview, Heise online, 25 September 2013 (in German).
K Nagatani, S Kiribayashi, Y Okada, K Otake, K Yoshida, S Tadokoro, T Nishimura, T Yoshida, E Koyanagi, M Fukushima and S Kawatsuma, Emergency response to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants using mobile rescue robots, Journal of Field Robotics, 30 (1), 44-63, 2013.

Most of NASA was shut down when the US Congress failed to fund its federal government beyond the end of the current fiscal year at midnight this past Monday (Sept. 30). Some programs, like the ISS, are exempt from the shutdown in order to ensure the safety of human and physical resources. However, while ISS astronauts and mission crew back on earth will continue to clock in, 97% of NASA employees are at home today. According to the Planetary Society, other independently operated programs under contract to NASA, such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated by Caltech) and the Applied Physics Laboratory (operated by John Hopkins University) will continue to operate for the time being.

Elizabeth Robinson NASA’s Chief Financial Officer, in a statement that is no longer available because the NASA website is affected by the shutdown, wrote:

There are two major operations or classes of operations that would require ongoing support in accordance with the definitions of excepted activities identified above. First NASA currently is operating the ISS with a crew of 6 astronauts/cosmonauts, which has been in continuous operation since 1998. To protect the life of the crew as well as the assets themselves, we would continue to support planned operations of the iSS during any funding hiatus. Moreover, NASA will be closely monitoring the impact of an extended shutdown to determine if crew transportation or cargo resupply services are required to mitigate imminent threats to life and property on the ISS or other areas.

Second, if a satellite mission is in the operations phase, we will maintain operations that are essential to ensure the safety of that satellite and the data received from it. However if a satellite mission has not yet been launched, work will generally cease on that project.

See also:

• IEEE Spectrum – Government Shutdown Threatens Future NASA Missions
• Space.com – How a Potential Government Shutdown Could Affect NASA
• Space.com – Government Shutdown Would Ground NASA ‘Almost Entirely,’ Obama Says
• The Planetary Society –  American government shut down, but JPL and APL planetary missions still operating — for now
• NASA turns 55 – and turns out the lights

On June 17, 2013, Astronaut Chris Cassidy successfully drove a K10 rover on earth, via remote connection from the Surface Telerobotics Workbench on the International Space Station, showing that robots deployed to explore Mars or the far side of the moon could be remotely controlled by astronauts in space during future deep-space missions. Telerobotics, which involves human operators remotely controlling robotic arms, rovers and other devices in space, is one means of reducing risk in dull, dangerous or dirty tasks as humans explore space. 

NASA has a long history of playing for high stakes; think of the 7 minutes of terror Curiosity descent to Mars, Spirit & Opportunity, and indeed, the entire space race. Yet when human lives and millions of dollars in technology are invested, it’s critical to keep risk at a minimum. As part of our series on ‘High-Risk / High-Reward’ robotics, we asked Dr. Terry Fong of the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group, to describe how NASA’s telerobotics initiatives help mitigate risk in space missions. – Robohub Editors

Photo credit: NASA. Chris Cassidy studies the Surface Telerobotics Workbench on the International Space Station to remotely operate the K10 rover on Earth at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., in June 2013.

Photo credit: Dominick Hart/NASA. NASA’s K10 rover at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California performs a surface survey with its cameras and laser system, and then deployed a simulated polymide antenna while being controlled by an astronaut in space during a June 2013 test.

“Surface Telerobotics” is a 2013 NASA test to examine how astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS) can remotely operate a surface robot across short time delays. This test will be performed during the summer of
2013 and has three objectives:

1. To demonstrate interactive crew control of a mobile surface telerobot in the presence of short communications delay,
2. To characterize a concept of operations for a single astronaut remotely operating a planetary rover with limited support from ground control, and
3. To characterize telerobot utilization, operator workload and operator situation awareness.

Surface Telerobotics is intended to reduce risk for future human-robot exploration missions, identify technical gaps, and refine key system requirements.

In planning for future human exploration missions, numerous study teams have proposed having astronauts remotely operate surface robots from an orbiting spacecraft using a low-latency, high-bandwidth communications link. This concept of operations is seen as an effective method for performing surface activities that require real-time human involvement without incurring the risk and cost associated with human sorties. In addition, this configuration would allow high-performance spacecraft computing to be used for high-level robot autonomy (perception, navigation, etc.), thus simplifying the processing and avionics required for the robot. Crew-centric surface telerobotics is considered an option for several possible missions:

• Lunar Farside: Astronauts orbiting the Moon (or station-keeping at the Earth-Moon “L2” Lagrange point) remotely operate a surface robot exploring the lunar farside. Astronauts would take advantage of low-latency (less than 250 ms) and high-availability communications to maximize robot utilization during a short-duration mission.
• Near-Earth Object (NEO): Astronauts approaching, in orbit, or departing a NEO (e.g., asteroid) remotely operate a robot landed on surface. Astronauts would control the robot from the flight vehicle because the NEO environment (high rotation rate, rapidly varying illumination, etc.) rules out remote operations from Earth.
• Mars Orbit: Astronauts in aerostationary orbit around Mars (or perhaps landed on Phobos or Deimos) remotely operate a surface robot exploring Mars. Astronauts would control the robot from the flight vehicle when circumstances (time-critical activities, contingency handling, etc.) do not permit remote operation from Earth.

If successful, this project will help NASA better understand the key issues, engineering requirements, and costs/benefits associated with crew-centric surface telerobotics. In addition, data collected by the test will inform the design of future ground-based tests, particularly in terms of the key factors that need to be simulated at high levels of fidelity.

Finally, this project will help confirm (or reject) many of the assumptions and hypotheses that have been made by numerous space exploration study teams regarding the technology maturity, technology gaps, and risks (operational and functional) associated with crew-controlled surface telerobotics.

Project Partners
NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group
NASA Lunar Science Institute
NASA Technology Demonstration Missions Program
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lunar University Network for Astrophysics Research

Mission Location
International Space Station and the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field California

More Information
http://tinyurl.com/surface-telerobotics
http://www.nasa.gov/telerobotics

Over the past two decades, robotic planetary exploration has generated an incredible wealth of knowledge about our neighbors in the Solar System. We now realize that celestial bodies within our reach can provide resources such as water, minerals, and metals, essential for sustaining and supporting robotic and human exploration of the Solar System. It is only matter of time before “living off the land” exploration enabled by in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) becomes a reality.  The Solar System offers almost unlimited resources, but the difficult part is accessing them. Thus, if the cost of mining and processing can be reduced, some of the minerals that are in high demand on Earth could in fact be brought back and sold for commercial gain.

In general, there are at least three bodies that have been seriously considered for resource exploitation. These include our Moon, Mars, and near-Earth asteroids. The Moon offers resources that could be used in-situ (such as water), and because of its proximity to Earth, other resources (especially rare Earth minerals) could be returned to Earth and sold. Resources on Mars could be used to sustain a human (and robotic) presence, and to fuel launches back to the Mars orbit and to other destinations. Asteroids are relatively easy targets because of their low gravity well, but the micro-gravity environment makes mining and mineral processing extremely challenging.

Knowledge of the vast resources in space has triggered an explosion of interest in space mining, especially over the last few years. NASA is working on several feasibility studies and architecture concepts for resource utilization from the Moon, Mars and asteroids. (Honeybee Robotics is contributing to some of these, including the Robotic Asteroid Prospector.) In 2009, NASA’s National Commission on Space study (PDF) argued that extracting resources from the Moon and asteroids will be essential for further space exploration and colonization. Private firms have jumped in with the goal of bringing space riches down to Earth. And with contests such as Lunabotics and the NASA Sample Return Challenge bringing new talent into the sector, training and education have expanded significantly.

What’s Honeybee’s role in this? We’ve been working on space mining and resource processing technologies for the past 25 years, providing feasibility studies, systems analysis, unique solutions and technologies, hardware development, test results, and flight systems for NASA and other space partners. Some of the approaches could be applied to both the Moon and Mars, but asteroid mining, because of the extremely low gravity field, is in its own category. Potential technologies would have to be thoroughly tested before they could be integrated into the asteroid mining spacecraft. Of course, the only true way to test new technologies is on a mission itself! The Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) recently determined that it would be feasible to bring a 7 meter, 500-ton asteroid near Earth by 2025, with asteroid identification, capture and return costing on the order of $2.6 billion (PDF). Such an asteroid parked at the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point would be an ideal testbed for new space infrastructure, proximity operations, space mining and resource processing technologies.

And while there are many challenges to a successful space mining program (economics, fuel, human safety, etc.), one of the biggest hurdles is physically mining and processing materials in the extreme and unstructured environment of space. It is like nothing we encounter on Earth.

When it comes to physically collecting samples, especially in quantities beyond those needed for scientific analysis, designers face several challenges. Some risks such as proximity operations, landing, and traversing are easier to understand and model, and hence these risks could be quantified. However, mining and mineral processing in a vacuum — and especially in a reduced gravity environment — is difficult to imagine in the abstract. At this point, many risks are simply not addressable with the amount of information we currently have. In addition, the kinds of materials to be gathered, their location, the volumes needed, on-site processing required and the end use of the materials must all be clearly defined in order to develop the mining strategy and the overall system architecture.

Current materials acquisition and analysis systems are best suited to sampling and surveying objects of interest. Any viable mining mission relies on a comprehensive understanding of the chemical makeup and physical properties of the site early in the process. After gaining a technical understanding of the composition and material properties of the resource lode, larger-scale mining efforts could begin with spacecraft tailored to the given material. In terms of supporting settlement on the Moon or Mars, this would entail special tools and autonomous vehicles designed to gather regolith, ice deposits or other materials useful to habitation. Many astroid mining programs seek to extract useful resources (such as precious metals) and return them to Earth, and keep other resources (such as oxygen, hydrogen and water) in space to power future human exploration.

Given the complexity and constraints of drilling and mining in progressively more extreme and difficult-to-reach environments here on Earth, mining in space is challenging but realistic. And if we ever want to get serious about human exploration and colonization of the solar system, there’s no alternative to gathering local resources for fuel, water and construction materials. In this respect, space mining may be the ultimate high-risk, high-reward robotic initiative.

We’re not starting from scratch. Much of this technology is based on sample collection and analysis work that the space community, and Honeybee Robotics, has been working on for decades. Over the past 25 years, Honeybee has built over fifty sample acquisition, excavation, mining and processing systems; we’ve made ten of these devoted to acquiring cores for analysis, such as envisioned for the Mars 2020 mission. The following are a few examples that represent a breadth of unique space mining technologies.

Sample acquisition and caching concepts for Mars 2020 Mission

Current plans for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission are based on the Mars Science Laboratory landing system and vehicle platform, with enhanced tools and capabilities. Mars sample return is one capability NASA is exploring. Here, Honeybee demonstrates its expertise in planetary drilling, core sample acquisition, and sample caching with an architecture for a sample return mission.

Icebreaker / LITA Drill

The 1-meter class Mars drill, LITA, during field testing on Carnegie Mellon’s Zoe rover.

Honeybee’s next-generation space drill, LITA, is designed to reach more than 1 meter deep into Mars, Europa or other bodies in the solar system. The drill has performed successfully under Mars pressures in analogous environments, including the Arctic and in Antarctica. Here, it’s shown deployed on the Zoe rover built by David Wettergreen’s team at Carnegie Mellon University, where it is gathering subsurface samples from the Atacama Desert in Chile to test for signs of life.

Auto-Gopher Deep Drill

The Auto-Gopher drill, designed for deep planetary drilling from a small platform.

The Auto-Gopher drill is a wire-line rotary-hammer drill, whose depth of penetration is limited only by the length of the wire that suspends it. This enables drilling at great depths, beyond the reach of traditional or telescoping drill architectures. The drill has been successfully field tested in gypsum, which offers conditions similar to that of water-ice at low temperature. A 2012 field test showed the drill capable of capturing 32 cores down to a depth of 3 m, with cores pulled every 10 cm, over the course of 10 hours. Integration with in-drill sensors would enable in-situ analysis of deep subsurface geological and environmental characteristics.

Asteroid Water Extractor

The concept Asteroid Water Extractor, designed for reconnaissance and resource collection.

The Asteroid Water Extractor system concept gathers water from asteroids within tight mass and power constraints, making it an ideal system for early in-situ resource extraction in support of human spaceflight. The configuration of drills located on each lander leg adds redundancy and helps maintain down-force in a microgravity environment. Water collected from the icy dirt is removed and stored for later use.

Pneumatic Miner

A functional prototype of the pneumatic mining system in Honeybee’s vacuum chamber.

Pneumatic excavation is an emerging technology that uses gas to mine and transport regolith. Initial test results have shown that one gram of pressurized gas can loft almost 6,000 grams of soil under lunar-like conditions (low gravity and in a vacuum). The excavation gas can be carried in liquid form in a designated tank, generated on site by burning residual propellant in the lander, or even generated as a byproduct of the ISRU reaction process. Because the pneumatic system has no moving parts, it is ideally suited to the lunar environment, where pervasive and highly abrasive dust introduces opportunities for mechanical failure.

Percussive Excavator

Modular percussive excavation technology reduces down-force needed by a factor of 40.

Because many mining targets, such as the Moon and Mars, have just a fraction of gravity compared to the Earth, mining and excavation systems must not rely on large down force. Percussive excavation uses vibration or hammer action to reduce required digging forces by a factor of 40. This in turn reduces the mass requirement of the lunar excavator. Because every kilogram of Lunar mission payload adds approximately $100,000 to mission cost, this technology offers billions of dollars in savings. This is a flexible, modular technology that can be mounted on a variety of handheld tools or autonomous vehicles for maximum operational flexibility.

Competitors are challenged to write algorithms to control Robonaut and teach it how to interact with a taskboard with LEDs that turn on or off when buttons are pushed –  a task that the robot will eventually perform in space.

According to TopCoder, a total of $10,000 in prizes will be awarded to competitors whose algorithms do the best job of helping Robonaut to figure out where LEDs are located on the taskboard, and whether they are on or off.

The task board will allow engineers to test R2’s capabilities in low earth orbit.

In the first challenge, competitors will be given “left eye” and “right eye”  Robonaut imagery, including images from earth, from the ISS and simulation images, as well as a string array containing the names of the buttons and LEDs that need to be located. The goal is to define the button/switch’s state and (x,y) location in pixels relative to the upper left corner of a given image. Competitors will be judged on accuracy, and how long it takes to determine the state of the LEDs.

The second challenge builds upon the first: competitors will write a algorithm that controls Robonaut’s motion so that it can physically interact with the taskboard.

Each competition will run for three weeks. The first competition is already open, and will close on April 22, 2013. The second competition will follow the first – check the contest webpage for details.

TopCoder is a community platform made up of more than 455,000 software developers, algorithmists, and digital designers that aims to accelerate the development of new digital products and services.

[photos courtesy of NASA, Joe Bibby]

Eric Wind: What’s your title at NASA and what do you do?

Dave Lavery: My official title is Program Executive for Solar System Exploration, and that basically means is that I’m the person at NASA who has full-time responsibilities for several of the Mars exploration missions. Several of us have that job; responsibilities for different missions.

How much information do you think we can get out of robots or rovers, or are we reaching the limit of what rovers are capable of doing?

I think there’s still an enormous amount that the rovers and robotic systems can do. Right now, realistically, given it’s the only option we have, at least for the time being, we intend to exercise them as much as we can. Certainly the rovers that are there now – the two that are still operating right now, the Opportunity and Curiosity – are both enormously capable and represent the best that we are able to put on the surface of the planet right now.

We still have plans on extending those capabilities further; making them more capable, more intelligent and more autonomous as much as we can until we eventually get to the point where we can put humans on the planet.

Having said that, are they as capable as any human being? No, not yet, far from it. But, they are much better than nothing at all, or waiting until we can put a human there which could be decades away.

What’s the role of people in space exploration currently? Is just building these rovers, or continuing ISS missions, or missions for the moon?

Well, right now, humans are obviously building and operating the systems that we’re sending to the planet. We do have humans occupying the International Space Station continuously.

In addition to that, in terms of where we’re going to next, whether it’s going to be to the moon or onto asteroids or onto Mars; all of that is wrapped up in a redefinition process that we’re going through to redetermine and refine our ongoing human exploration strategy. So, that is actually something that is very much in development right now and we hope to have the agencies overall structure and strategy within the next couple months.

What’s the next big thing for robotics and space exploration?

Well, in terms of hard space exploration we’re working on now, we just landed the Mars Curiosity rover just a few months ago and beginning its own explorations of Mars. I think we just announced over the holidays, that we’ll actually be building a second iteration of Curiosity which will be launched around 2020.

The intent is that we’ll build a rover that is Curiosity’s twin sister, if you will, with the main difference being different size payload on board. It will take advantage of everything Curiosity finds and teaches us, and use that knowledge to help us define science package which will answer the next set of questions that Curiosity will raise.

What is an example of a question that Curiosity has raised?

Well, for example, the primary mission for Curiosity and one if its top-level objectives was to go and find an environment that is capable of potentially harboring life. That is not to say that Curiosity is looking for life. What it’s looking for environments on Mars that could have supported life. All of that is one of the steps for us to get to the question, “Was there ever life on Mars?”

Curiosity’s prime mission was two Earth years long, or one Mars year, and it was going to take about that long to get to a region where we could explore and find definitive evidence of a habitable environment. Well, it turned out that it actually took a month and a half. In the first six-weeks of operation, we were able to find an ancient river bed that Curiosity came across and was able to positively identify it as a region where there was a lot of water over an extended period of time in this region. By that, I mean that we could tell this was a region between two and four meters of water going by at two to four meters per second for many tens of thousands of years. Basically, there was a river here at one point in time, and for a long period of time. When we put together the fact there was a lot of flowing water here over a long period of time, we got that this was a warmer environment, a wetter environment and in addition to everything else we know that was there, it was the definition of a place where life could have existed. All the environmental characteristics are there.

So, Curiosity has found that already. What it will continue to do now is to explore over a larger region, to see how many other places like that we can find in the explorations. Now it becomes a matter of understanding, if at least one place on Mars was like that, then how many more can we find – how widespread a pattern of habitability can we begin to define. That’s what Curiosity is going to continue to do and try to find out just how ubiquitous this region of habitability may be.

One of the things it does raise is it’s going to define this one area on the planet, if we know that the environment was able to support life, then the next step is to say, ‘Okay, now we know where to look and these were the places that were able to support life, or the potential for life, then the next question is let’s go back to those places and actually search for signs of ancient life, if it ever existed.’ And that is one possible — and I’m wording this carefully because the final mission definition hasn’t been finished yet — but that’s one possible payload that the sister of Curiosity could carry in 2020.

Do you think people are still as excited about space exploration as they were 20 or 30 years ago?

What I can say based on recent events, in terms of interest based on landing on Mars and the massive positive public reaction that happened with that, as well as the very significant interested associated with what has been done with the space shuttles, and also just your question “What’s next?” Based on those observations, I think there is still a very strong interest on the part of the public in space exploration. That’s one of the things that NASA has been trying to step up to. You’ve seen all of our other stuff, and you should wait to see what we have coming next.

To that point, I’m sure there are still skeptics. What do you say to people to let them know how space and robotics are relevant to them?

There are several different ways that everything we do in the space program really comes back down to improving life here on Earth. First and foremost, one of the comments that people have many times is “We’re spending all of this money in space,” the reality is we haven’t spent a dollar “in space.” Everything we do is based on people who work here on Earth to design, build and launch these systems. That is a very significant market share in terms of the potential for advanced technology, high throughput jobs that are part of the American economic engine.

In addition to that, in terms of the investment that we make for every one of these activities, the return is the spin-off terrestrial applications. Depending on the studies you look at, the return is somewhere between 7-to-1 and 9-to-1. In other words, for every dollar we spend $7 – $9 are returned back into the U.S. economy in the form of spin-off products that can be used for other terrestrial application. The return in that sense is for future markets and future business opportunities for future products that would get consumed by the public on a very regular basis.

Those are both the practical reasons. Beyond that, the thing that it really does; it really feeds directly into our need to explore and to understand beyond our own personal experience. It basically gets to, as a nation, we have a history of being explorers. We are always trying to find and seek out what is beyond the next hill. That is part of what we are trying to do in space, as well. We are trying to understand what is beyond our Earth and what is out there, and are these places of interest or are these places that we can go. In the short term, that may mean going virtually through the eyes of a robotic system. Eventually, it will be sending people to these places. It’s addressing all of that.

We heard and enjoyed an anecdote you told in a previous interview, about Colin Angle building a robot called Tooth with just a few hundred dollars in Radio Shack parts. What role do you think DIYers have in space exploration or robotics, if any?

Well, the community of – what we used to call – hackers, in terms of robotic systems, still has an enormous role to play. One of the wonderful things about robotic systems right now is while there are some very advanced capabilities that are being developed in labs of universities and research organizations, the technology is still accessible enough.

People who are interested enough or who have a shop at home or garage, can get deep into the technology very very easily and very affordably. That allows people to make some very significant advances to, number one, just build their own machine and understand how they work and to get inside the technology, but then it has the potential to take different components and put them together into new ways and actually raise new additional technologies that can be spun back into these larger projects. It’s all absolutely right there.

I’d like to touch for a moment on robotic education. First, how did you get started in robotics?

For me, in my case, it was a situation where I had wanted to work in the space program ever since I was very young. Like everyone growing up in that particular time, my first thought was I wanted to be an astronaut, but I found out when I went into high school that my vision was so bad. At that time, the way you got to be an astronaut was you had to be a military test pilot first. My vision was so bad that I couldn’t be a test pilot and then I couldn’t be an astronaut. So, I said if I can’t do that then maybe I can just work on the machines and go into space with them as my proxies. Then I started studying artificial intelligence, became trained as a computer scientist, did graduate work and got a job working with robotic systems. I came to NASA on the robotics technology program, and then later the planetary robotics program, and that is sort of how I worked my way through it.

Basically, it was a desire to, first, go to space but then if I couldn’t physically do it myself then I would have my machines go there for me.

What’s been your role in advancing robotic education?

One of the things that NASA, across the entire agency, has done is get very involved in several robotic education activities. The biggest involvement we’ve had would be in FIRST Robotics. That is something I actually started 18 years ago when I was running the robotics technology program for the agency, and became aware of it first and became involved personally. I realized very quickly that these students who were going through the FIRST Robotics competition programs were the very students we were looking for to help fill the pipeline of robotics researchers that we were going to need for the future.

So, I brought the FIRST program back to my research organization and got the rest of NASA involved to the point where we sponsored one team 18 years ago, we now sponsor over 300 teams and ever NASA field center is involved. We are now personally in touch with tens of thousands of kids every year through our programs.

What would you tell kids is the importance getting into engineering or robotics?

The first and highest message is engineering, technology and science careers are just plain fun. These are areas where you have the chance to be creative, to be innovative and do things that no one has ever done before, and basically bring a whole new capability or technology to the world. You can have an enormously fun time doing it. Really, it’s a career you can have creating new things. It’s not something that you have in other markets. That’s the biggest part of it.

Beyond that, if you do what you do well, then you can be paid for it very well. Look at some of the wealthiest people, not just in this country, but across the world. The icon would be the Bill Gates’ of the world, who made their money because they created a new thing that the world wanted and the world needed. You’re not just limited to make your fortune to being an entertainer or playing basketball, but you can be very well rewarded for being innovative.

Just one last question. You said in a past interview that your name has been on a rocket every 26 months. How many rockets has your name been on exactly?

Well, my name, or finger print, or thumb print, or what have you, is virtually on the Mars missions I’ve worked over the years.

The first one I worked on was the Mars Pathfinder mission, which was launched in ‘96 and landed on the Fourth of July 1997. I worked on the Sojourner rover that was on-board that lander. After that, basically I’ve had some role either direct or indirect with every mission since then. The ones that I particular that I had a very hands-on, participatory role in were the Mars Polar lander in 1998 – which did not work. Obviously, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers in 2003. The Spirit finally turned off a year and a half ago, and the Opportunity is still going. Then, Curiosity, which was supposed to launch in 2009 but launched in 2011 and only recently landed.

Beyond, I also had much more rich roles in things like Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, the MRO in 2005 and Phoenix in 2007.

Link to audio file (47:00)

Link to transcript

In today’s episode we speak with Stephen Gorevan from Honeybee Robotics about how he and Chris Chapman started the company and how his childhood dream of working for NASA got them into space robotics. The interview, which was recorded before the landing of Curiosity on Mars, gives us all the details about the equipment they built for the Mars Science Laboratory, including the Sample Manipulation System (SMS) and the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) which will enable the mission to explore and analyze the Martian environment. We also hear about their latest developments in small scale satellites called Cubesats.

Stephen Gorevan

Stephen Gorevan co-founded Honeybee Robotics in 1983 and currently serves as the company’s Chairman. He is principally responsible for guiding the company’s direction toward the application of advanced robotic and automation techniques to new applications in the aerospace sector. His responsibilities include new technology development, company and engineering management, design and systems engineering. Gorevan has over 25 years of experience in leading advanced robotics and automation design, development, and implementation efforts for NASA, defense and industry. He currently serves as a Co-Investigator on the science teams for the Mars Exploration Rovers and the Mars Science Laboratory SAM instrument and is a member of the Venus Science Definition Team.

Sample Manipulation System

Ncube-2, a Norwegian Cubesat

The Dust Removal Tool (DRT)

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X1 (NASA, IHMC)

Built in conjunction with the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton weighs 57-pounds and has ten joints, four of which are motorized. However, while the X1 can work to augment the wearer’s movements, it can also be set to work against them. While X1 is still in the research and development stage, it is more likely to join other exoskeletons in use on Earth, like those from Ekso, Rex, Raytheon, Cyberdyne, Honda, MIT, and DARPA projects, than it is to assist humans in space. [Release 12-239 NASA]

Ekso (Ekso Bionics)

The Ekso supports its own 20-kilogram weight via the skeletal legs and footrests and takes care of the calculations needed for each step. In a later model the walking sticks will have motion sensors that communicate with the legs, allowing the user to take complete control. Ekso Bionics initially developed systems for use by able bodied people, starting with the ExoHiker in 2005 and then the HULC, or Human Universal Load Carrier, which was licensed to Lockheed Martin for military development. For more, have a look at Automaton 2012.

HAL 5 (Cyberdyne)

Full hospital trials of the HAL 5 suit from Cyberdyne began this year and are expected to conclude by 2015, although you can currently rent one for approx $2000/month. The Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL 5) is capable of boosting the wearer’s strength 5 to 10 fold and more than 300 have been leased to a range of facilities in Japan. [The Australian]

Rex (Rex Bionics)

Rex Bionics founder, Richard Little was inspired to work on exoskeletons in 2003 when a friend was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The carbon fibre Rex costs about $150,000 NZ and weighs 38k but can give movement, including the ability to climb stairs, back to paraplegics like British TV presenter Sophie Morgan and BBC correspondant, Frank Gardner. [HeraldSun]

SARCOS (Raytheon)
Back in 2000 US Agency DARPA requested design proposals for “Powered Military Exoskeletons” and subsequently awarded Raytheon robotics branch SARCOS with the grant.

The result was the XOS Exoskeleton. It is powered by a single combustion engine which in turn powers the exoskeleton’s servo motors. At 68 kg (150 pounds) the bionic suit is very heavy – but reportedly allows its user to lift 90kg (about 200 pound) payloads “repeatedly with minimal strain”.

The project’s initial goal was an exoskeleton for logistics and supply tasks, but it’s easy to see various possible customizations for combat (e.g., transport and use of heavy weaponry) or battlefield operations (e.g., transport of wounded soldiers).

Others
There are a number of other exoskeletons, including perhaps this robotic wheelchair from Chiba Institute of Technology. Where is the dividing line between an exoskeleton and a vehicle?

Andra Keay from San Francisco and Markus Waibel from Zurich contributed to this post.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Ekso Bionics goes public for $20.6 million
• 7 consumer robots to look out for from CES 2014
• Medical robotic systems market to reach $13.6 billion by 2018
• Activelink Power Loader gives HAL some competition, but who’s going to Fukushima?

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Link to audio file (28:07)

In today’s show we bring you to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Open House, just in time to prepare for the landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover in less than 10 days.

Every year, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory opens its doors to over 38,000 visitors. This year’s theme was “Great Journeys”, inviting visitors to share in the wonders of space through high-definition and 3-D videos, live demonstrations, interactions with scientists and engineers and a first look at JPL’s new Earth Science Center.

As we walk you through the JPL mission control center, clean rooms and facilities, we stop to chat with JPL engineers and developers about the many space systems we encounter including the rovers Athlete, Spirit & Opportunity and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This year’s highlight was the Mars Rover Curiosity, scheduled to land on August 5th. Curiosity, which is part of the the Science Laboratory Mission, will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life.

People we had a chance to speak with include Tod Litwin & Megan Richardson (Mars Exploration Booth), Kit Kennedy (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), Mike Watkins (MSL Rover Curiosity) and Dimitri Zarzhitsky (Mobility and Robotic Technologies).

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Would you like to watch Curiosity pile up sand behind its wheels as it struggles up a slope, this video is about as close as you’re likely to get, at least until Curiosity actually lands on Mars. For more, check out the JPLnews channel on YouTube.

One of the biggest steps in space exploration, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) named Curiosity was launched today with an Atlas V 541 vehicle and it is now on its way to Mars. The Curiosity rover is similar in size and weight to a small car and it will be the largest spacecraft to ever land on Mars with a very elaborate procedure that not only enables it to reach safely the Martian surface but also to land in a relatively tight spot with great geological interest.

The mission cost approximately 2.5 billion dollars. It was scheduled for launch in 2009 but various delays forced NASA to abort that goal. The optimum launch window when Mars and Earth are in the relative position that makes the trip as short as possible occurs every two years so two years after 2009 it is now the time for launch. The primary mission will last one Martian year (98 earth weeks) and if the rover is operational it could be further extended for much more. Landing sequence is scheduled for August 2012.

The system is comprised by the rover, the descent stage and the two parts of the aeroshell, the back shell and the heat shield. The later is the largest one that has ever used for a capsule atmospheric re-entry. It is larger in diameter than the one used in the Apollo spacecrafts and it is covered by phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) tiles able to withstand the peak temperature of 2.100C.

The Curiosity rover is a scaled-up version of the design used in the Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity. It has six wheels, each powered by a hub brushless electric motor and four of them, 2 in the front and 2 in the back, can be steered independently. The chassis is suspended via a rocker-bogie system, the preferable for all NASA rovers. This allows the rover to stay almost level in uneven terrain and it provides stable movements to the very slow moving rover.

Instead of solar cells the MSL uses a thermoelectric radioisotope generator (multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator – MMRTG) that converts the heat emitted from a pellet of radioactive Plutonium-238 dioxide to electricity via a set of solid-state thermocouples. It is much simpler and compact (it weighs only 4.8kg) than a nuclear reactor and of course much safer (personnel that worked on it received negligible amounts of radiation). NASA calls it a ‘nuclear battery’ and apart from electricity it also provides heat for the electronics inside the vehicle’s cell. MMRTG could power the rover for years. Lithium-ion batteries are charged by this generator and provide peak current when needed in conditions that exceed the maximum power provided by the MMRTG.

The main objectives of the mission are the evaluation of the habitability of the planet, its ability to host life, the preservation of it and the study of past and present environments. Curiosity has on board the most advanced set of cameras and scientific instruments ever sent on Mars.

Curiosity will use a very innovative delivery system. Apart from being the largest interplanetary aeroshell ever used, the MSL capsule will be able to actively change its trajectory for the first time. While entering the atmosphere, tungsten ballast will drop off, thus creating an asymmetrical center of mass. That introduces an angle of incidence and by controlling the yaw of the aeroshell via the reaction control system installed on the backshell the spacecraft can modify its trajectory and glide almost like a winged aircraft. At mach 2 the heat shield is dropped and a parachute (the largest ever used in such a mission but similar to the ones used before) is deployed. Without the heat shield the downwards facing radar and landing systems are operational and at a lower altitude the parachute and the backshell are dropped while the deceleration is now provided by the final descent stage. This uses four pair of fully throttleable engines (derivatives of those used in the Viking missions) and it is able to position the craft over the desired landing spot. HD images from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter help avoid rocks and rough terrain with great accuracy. At a very low altitude the rover is deployed through a system of cables and an umbilical cord with a specific rate controlled by a mechanical system that doesn’t allow it to spool very fast or too slowly. The relatively low landing impact is absorbed by the suspension and the descent stage is detached and crashed at a far distance.

This innovative sky crane system solved the problem of propulsive landing of a rover. The 3 previous rovers were landed via airbags but the Curiosity is too big for that and placing the rockets below the rover (similarly to other propulsive landing but static missions, like the Vikings) would overcomplicate the rover deployment. Sky crane was not very popular initially in JPL but extensive study and tests established it as a sound solution.

The chosen landing spot is the Gale-crater, a very tricky place for unpropulsive landing but accessible with this new much more precise method. This area is believed to be very interesting geologically and Curiosity will explore a significant part of it.

Scientist and engineers from JPL don’t seem to worry about the complicated landing procedure because of the very extensive tests. However there is always the risk of some software bug or small glitch that could endanger the mission. Everyone hopes that MSL starting from August 2012 will be able to continue the very successful missions of previous rovers.

You can find more on the MSL NASA mission page and JPL’s MSL Curiosity website.