Robotic Lunar Geotechnical Tool

Zacny, K.; Wilson, J.; Craft, J.; Asnani, Vivake M.; Oravec, Heather A.; Creager, Colin; Johnson, Jerome Β.; Fong, Terry

doi:10.1061/41096(366)19

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Direct soil sensing devices, for example, cone penetrometers (Zacny et al., ) or Bevameters (Wong, ), can reliably characterize the physical properties of the terrain, at the cost of high mechanical complexity, high power consumption, and the need to stop the rover to take a measurement. These downsides can be avoided using indirect soil sensing techniques that aid detecting nongeometric hazards by analyzing vehicle‐terrain interaction on‐the‐fly while driving (Iagnemma, Kang, Shibly, & Dubowsky, ), for example, through vibration‐based classification (Brooks et al., ; Weiss, Fechner, Stark, & Zell, ), slip detection (Ojeda, Cruz, Reina, & Borenstein, ; Brooks, Iagnemma, & Dubowsky, ; Iagnemma & Ward, ), or sinkage estimation (Reina, Ishigami, Nagatani, & Yoshida, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trafficability Assessment of Deformable Terrain through Hybrid Wheel‐Leg Sinkage Detection

Comin

Lewinger

Saaj

et al. 2016

Journal of Field Robotics

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Off-road ground mobile robots are widely used in diverse applications, both in terrestrial and planetary environments. They provide an efficient alternative, with lower risk and cost, to explore or to transport materials through hazardous or challenging terrain. However, nongeometric hazards that cannot be detected remotely pose a serious threat to the mobility of such robots. A prominent example of the negative effects these hazards can have is found on planetary rover exploration missions. They can cause a serious degradation of mission performance at best and complete immobilization and mission failure at worst. To tackle this issue, the work presented in this paper investigates the novel application of an existing enhanced-mobility locomotion concept, a hybrid wheel-leg equipped by a lightweight micro-rover, for in situ characterization of deformable terrain and online detection of nongeometric hazards. This is achieved by combining an improved vision-based approach and a new ranging-based approach to wheel-leg sinkage detection. In addition, the paper proposes an empirical model, and a parametric generalization, to predict terrain trafficability based on wheel-leg sinkage and a well-established semiempirical terramechanics model. The robustness and accuracy of the sinkage detection methods implemented are tested in a variety of conditions, both in the laboratory and in the field, using a single wheel-leg test bed. The sinkage-trafficability model is developed based on experimental data using this test bed and then validated onboard a fully mobile robot through experimentation on a range of dry frictional soils that covers a wide spectrum of macroscopic physical characteristics

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trafficability Assessment of Deformable Terrain through Hybrid Wheel‐Leg Sinkage Detection

Comin

Lewinger

Saaj

et al. 2016

Journal of Field Robotics

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“…DCP has an 8 kg hammer for hard soils and a 4.6 kg hammer for weak soils. The DCP is used to determine a California Bearing Ratio (CBR), which can be converted to soil bearing strength and other soil properties (Zacny et al, 2010). The CBR ranges from less than 0.5 to 100% and the corresponding values of bearing strength range from 430 to 10,800 psf.…”

Section: Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (Dcp)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Penetration rate is measured in real time using laser range finder. The penetration rate in turn can be converted to the soil bearing strength (Zacny et al, 2010).…”

Section: Percussive Cone Penetrometer (Pcp) Pcp Is Based On Honeybeementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Percussive Dynamic Cone Penetrometer or PDCP (Zacny et al, 2010). PCP uses percussive hammer to drive a rod into a soil.…”

Section: Percussive Cone Penetrometer (Pcp) Pcp Is Based On Honeybeementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Percussive Cone Penetrometer (also called Percussive Dynamic Cone Penetrometer) has been developed by Honeybee Robotics (Zacny et al 2010), while the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer and the Static Cone Penetrometer are off the shelf tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Percussive, Dynamic, and Static Soil Penetrometers to Assess Geotechnical Properties and the Depth to Ground Ice of the Mars and Lunar Analog Terrains on the Devon Island, Canadian Arctic

Zacny

Bualat

Lee

et al. 2012

Earth and Space 2012

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In the summer of 2011, we used three geotechnical instruments to assess the ground conditions in planetary analog sites on the Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic. The instruments included Percussive Cone Penetrometer (PCP) developed by Honeybee Robotics, and the two off the shelf instruments: Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP), and the Static Cone Penetrometer (SCP). The three systems differed by the methods the rod was driven into the soil. SCP used a reaction force provided by the operator to drive the rod into the ground, the DCP used a drop hammer, and PCP used a high frequency hammer (percussive) system.The three instruments were evaluated based on their ability to be used by astronauts and be deployed autonomously on planetary robotic platforms (e.g. rovers, hoppers). The SCP, although simple to operate, was limited to soft soils and its data was unreliable. DCP required two people to operate, was heavy, and though the data was reliable, it took a few minutes to obtain it. The PCP has proven to be very reliable, fast, and the data was obtained and plotted in real time. Hence, PCP is recommended as the optimum geotechnical tool for planetary exploration for either a robotic system or an astronaut.The tests were performed at the Drill Hill site within the Haughton Crater. The site was covered by the polygonal features, the telltale signs of water activity (freeze-thaw cycle) beneath the surface. The measurements were taken at the polygons junctions, sides, and the center. It was found the polygon junctions are the weakest, followed by polygon sides, and finally polygon centers (the strongest). The depth to ground ice at these three locations was 65 cm in each case.

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Pneumatic and Percussive Penetration Approaches for Heat Flow Probe Emplacement on Robotic Lunar Missions

et al. 2013

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Robotic Lunar Geotechnical Tool

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Trafficability Assessment of Deformable Terrain through Hybrid Wheel‐Leg Sinkage Detection

Trafficability Assessment of Deformable Terrain through Hybrid Wheel‐Leg Sinkage Detection

Using Percussive, Dynamic, and Static Soil Penetrometers to Assess Geotechnical Properties and the Depth to Ground Ice of the Mars and Lunar Analog Terrains on the Devon Island, Canadian Arctic

Pneumatic and Percussive Penetration Approaches for Heat Flow Probe Emplacement on Robotic Lunar Missions

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