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vivekv80
interesting concept. I wonder if Boston Dynamics is partnering with anyone for ...
Sanjib.Acharya
The concept of hopping is really a great idea MIT-Draper came out with. I ...
With hopping robot, MIT shoots for the moon
R. Colin Johnson
8/20/2010 2:15 PM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. — Hopping robots aim to solve the problems associated with wheeled models like the Spirit rover, which today is mired in a Mars sand trap. If Spirit had been equipped with hopping capabilities, it could have just jumped back onto solid ground, according to NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Working with the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, MIT is designing what it calls the Terrestrial Artificial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator, or Talaris, as an entry for the Google Lunar X Prize. The competition's $30 million purse will go to the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon that succeeds in traveling 500 meters and transmitting images and data back to Earth. The MIT-Draper team, Next Giant Leap, joins 20 other teams competing for the prize.
When fully assembled, Talaris will consist of the carbon fiber vehicle, four electric ducted fans to simulate lunar gravity, lithium polymer batteries to power the fans, compressed gas thrusters and nitrogen tanks to provide the fuel and thrust to maneuver the vehicle, and an avionics system to navigate it. (Graphic provided by160160hraim Lanford and Ryan McLinko, MIT)
MIT will present details on the project at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space 2010 conference, running Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in Anaheim, Calif.
The Mars rover has proved the value of a mobile robotic platform through its extensive exploration of the Mars surface within a few kilometers of the landing site. But hopping capability would allow exploration of an area several hundred kilometers from the lander, according to the Talaris developers.
"With a hopper, you simply hop in, collect data
and hop out," said Hoffman. "There are limits to the terrain you can
access on wheels."
Downward-facing, electric ducted fans provide continuous "lift" to counter terrestrial gravity and enable Talaris to emulate its natural weight on other planetary bodies, thereby letting the robot be tested on Earth under conditions that simulate the atmosphere of the moon. The fans' speed can be adjusted to simulate gravity on other astronomical bodies, from asteroids to planets.
The main drawback of hoppers is that the supply of compressed nitrogen eventually runs out. While the researchers are hunting for ways to "reload" the compressor using renewable energy, such as solar cells, the hopping system may in practice be used only as alternative propulsion method, reserved for when a rover's wheels get stuck.
By the end of the year, the team hopes to demonstrate the 110-pound prototype hopping up to 20 meters at a time. A full-sized rover is slated to be ready for Google Lunar X-Prize entry in 2014. The team is working with spacecraft specialist Sierra Nevada Corp. (Sparks, Nev.) on a vehicle to take Talaris to the moon. Draper Lab is designing the final descent and safe landing systems.
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Luis Sanchez
8/20/2010 5:35 PM EDT
That demonstration will definitely be a one to see. YouTube will be filled with it.
Who would’ve gests that a jumping rover would be most adequate for exploration. That grass-hopper like vehicle will certainly be a spectacular one, imagine a 20 meter height jump of a vehicle the size of a child’s toy car!!!
Can’t wait for that!!!
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VincePG
8/21/2010 1:28 AM EDT
How is that going to work? The rover sank into the sand because the sand is soft. A 110lbs robot that hops will have the same problem, won't it? In soft sand how effective will compressed air(nitorgen) be in pushing off a soft surface. What happens if it hops off a cliff? I'm interested in understanding how this works. The rover moves slowly because the communications is over great distance. Once the hopper is launched how is it controlled? What if it lands on a big rock?
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Dave.Dykstra
8/21/2010 1:52 AM EDT
This is an interesting concept. At the least, it seems that we have some folks "thinking out of the box". I have to agree with some of the other comments that there are a number of unanswered questions here. It is possible those have been considered and answers will be forthcoming, or possibly they still need to be asked and worked into the concept. Either way, this is an interesting concept and looks like a promising starting point - maybe a vehicle combining techniques such as a roller with hopping capabilities that could be brought into play when appropriate would be a solution.
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prabhakar_deosthali
8/21/2010 7:42 AM EDT
What I would do instead of proving the hopping capability is to add may be a balloon ( like an air-bag) which gets filled with appropriate gas to lift the robot in air ( or whatever media moon or mars have) take it away from the spot where it got stuck and lower it back to the ground by again flattening the balloons. Any takers MIT?
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DrQuine
8/21/2010 5:23 PM EDT
I'd think that another consideration to address is the possibility that blasting downwards would blow out the light sand, deepen the hole, and allow the lander to settle even deeper in the hole. Efforts to gently "hop" out might make the problem worse.
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Sanjib.Acharya
8/22/2010 1:34 AM EDT
The concept of hopping is really a great idea MIT-Draper came out with. I believe the team already has the potential terrain related problems in their mind as some of our friends pointed out and they will work though those hurdles including the issue of reloading compressed nitrogen. I would wait to see how their presentation in Astronautics Space 2010 conference goes. I would also like to know how the other teams doing? any interesting ideas from any of the other teams participated in this competetion?
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vivekv80
8/24/2010 3:13 PM EDT
interesting concept. I wonder if Boston Dynamics is partnering with anyone for their robots. Here’s BigDog video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2bExqhhWRI
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