Location
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
Start Date
28-4-1994 2:00 PM
End Date
28-4-1994 5:00 PM
Description
This paper identifies and describes advanced robotics technologies and novel applications of state-of-the-art techniques which presently focus on space-related missions but which could result in other dividends on Earth.
The paper has three sections. The first section focuses on the development of technology to help NASA automate the reprocessing of low-Earth-orbit vehicles. These advanced technologies include vibration isolation for robot arms and end-effectors, automated handling of fuels and other hazardous materials, and automated safety systems for process control. The second section describes the use of state-of-the-art solid modeling techniques to assist in the design of a robot arm, camera systems, sensors, and platforms for characterizing and exploring a planetary terrain. The third section discusses the use of these advanced technologies and novel applications to provide dividends on Earth in both space- and nonspacerelated applications. Vibration isolation could improve the performance of long manipulator arms used for vehicle processing and cleaning Department of Energy waste tanks. Automated handling of hazardous fluids could help automate the fueling of commercial and passenger vehicles. The advanced safety circuit could enhance many chemical process control operations. Modeling techniques for designing terrain exploration systems could assist the design of vehicles for exploring the many sites on Earth where human entry may be unsafe or inefficient, such as nuclear waste sites, military sites with unexploded ordnance, and widespread geological and agricultural surveys.
Paper Session III-C - Earth Dividends From the Development of Space Vehicle Robotics: Technologies and Techniques
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
This paper identifies and describes advanced robotics technologies and novel applications of state-of-the-art techniques which presently focus on space-related missions but which could result in other dividends on Earth.
The paper has three sections. The first section focuses on the development of technology to help NASA automate the reprocessing of low-Earth-orbit vehicles. These advanced technologies include vibration isolation for robot arms and end-effectors, automated handling of fuels and other hazardous materials, and automated safety systems for process control. The second section describes the use of state-of-the-art solid modeling techniques to assist in the design of a robot arm, camera systems, sensors, and platforms for characterizing and exploring a planetary terrain. The third section discusses the use of these advanced technologies and novel applications to provide dividends on Earth in both space- and nonspacerelated applications. Vibration isolation could improve the performance of long manipulator arms used for vehicle processing and cleaning Department of Energy waste tanks. Automated handling of hazardous fluids could help automate the fueling of commercial and passenger vehicles. The advanced safety circuit could enhance many chemical process control operations. Modeling techniques for designing terrain exploration systems could assist the design of vehicles for exploring the many sites on Earth where human entry may be unsafe or inefficient, such as nuclear waste sites, military sites with unexploded ordnance, and widespread geological and agricultural surveys.
Comments
Technical Concepts for Future Steps
Session Chairman: W. A. Gaubatz, Director-Program Manager, Delta Clipper Programs, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace
Session Organizer: Alan E. Drysdale, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, Kennedy Space Center