Anchoring thermal drills for icy moon stability and mobility
| Autor: | Raymond J. Sedwick, Adam H. Halperin |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Drill business.industry Structural integrity Anchoring Drilling Astronomy and Astrophysics Robotics Icy moon 01 natural sciences Stability (probability) Space and Planetary Science 0103 physical sciences Thermal Artificial intelligence Aerospace engineering business 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Geology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Planetary and Space Science. 189:104967 |
| ISSN: | 0032-0633 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.pss.2020.104967 |
| Popis: | Exploring the ice surface of Europa and other icy moons will be scientifically exciting, but very challenging for mobile autonomous robotics. This paper presents a new concept to address the challenge of moving across vacuum-exposed cryogenic ice terrains - a thermal pick that functions both as a thermal drill and an ice anchor. Earlier investigators demonstrated that cryogenic ice can be thermally drilled in simulated planetary conditions, but the efficiency was found to be a hindrance for power-limited systems. A rover on Europa may need to drill and anchor many times throughout the lifetime of the vehicle, so the primary focus of this work is reducing the energy cost of operation. Using the thermal drill as an anchor also adds a new requirement, maintaining the structural integrity of the ice. This work demonstrates a highly efficient (up to 50%) intermittent mode of operation for thermal drilling as well as an approach to avoiding degradation of the ice structure. This allows for anchoring strengths in excess of 130 N, which is the weight of 100 kg on Europa. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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