Eric A. Kulczycki

Autonomy architecture for aerobot exploration of Saturnian moon Titan

The Huygens probe arrived at Saturns moon, Titan, January 14,2005, unveiling a world that is radically different from any other in the solar system. The data obtained, complemented by continuing observations from the Cassini spacecraft, show methane lakes, river channels and drainage basins, sand dunes, cryovolcanos and sierras. This has led to an enormous scientific interest in a follow-up mission to Titan, using a robotic lighter-than-air vehicle (or aerobot). Aerobots have modest power requirements, can fly missions with extended durations, and have very long distance traverse capabilities. They can execute regional surveys, transport and deploy scientific instruments and in-situ laboratory facilities over vast distances, and also provide surface sampling at strategic science sites. This describes our progress in the development of the autonomy technologies that will be required for exploration of Titan. We provide an overview of the autonomy architecture and some of its key components. We also show results obtained from autonomous flight tests conducted in the Mojave Desert.

Towards Controller Design for Autonomous Airships Using SLC and LQR Methods

The development of an autonomous airship for planetary exploration is an area of great interest since the discovery of a dense atmosphere on Titan, a moon orbiting Saturn. Autonomous navigation is one of the many areas of interest for such a mission. Compared to most aircraft, airships are generally slow moving vehicles with sluggish response capabilities, and may have a fair amount of control input redundancy. In the current paper, both a classically-inspired sequential loop closure controller (SLC) and a hybrid classical / linear-quadratic-regulator (LQR) controller are investigated for autonomous airship waypoint navigation. For general navigation profiles and the current controller designs, the LQR controller tends to require less time and less input. However, in certain cases, the SLC controller is shown to require less time and less input.

An Autonomy Architecture for Aerobot Exploration of the Saturnian Moon Titan

The Huygens probe arrived at Saturns moon Titan on January 14, 2005, unveiling a world that is radically different from any other in the Solar system. The data obtained, complemented by continuing observations from the Cassini spacecraft, show methane lakes, river channels and drainage basins, sand dunes, cryovolcanos and sierras. This has lead to an enormous scientific interest in a follow-up mission to Titan, using a robotic lighter-than-air vehicle (or aerobot). Aerobots have modest power requirements, can fly missions with extended durations, and have very long distance traverse capabilities. They can execute regional surveys, transport and deploy scientific instruments and in-situ laboratory facilities over vast distances, and also provide surface sampling at strategic science sites. This paper describes our progress in the development of the autonomy technologies that will be required for exploration of Titan. We provide an overview of the autonomy architecture and some of its key components. We also show results obtained from autonomous flight tests conducted in the Mojave desert.

Bio-Barriers: Preventing Forward Contamination and Protecting Planetary Astrobiology Instruments

A small team of engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology have developed a unique capability for protecting planetary environments that might harbor bio-signatures, as well as protecting the instruments looking for trace organic signatures of past and/or extant life. Bio-barrier materials, designs of bio-barrier structures for flight applications, and actual flight test results for missions such as the upcoming Mars Scout, Phoenix, 07 launch are discussed in this in-depth examination of both the process and steps taken to develop effective bio-barrier mechanisms for planetary environments.

The Telesupervised Adaptive Ocean Sensor Fleet

We are developing a multi-robot science exploration architecture and system called the Telesupervised Adaptive Ocean Sensor Fleet (TAOSF). TAOSF uses a group of robotic boats (the OASIS platforms) to enable in-situ study of ocean surface and sub-surface phenomena. The OASIS boats are extended-deployment autonomous ocean surface vehicles, whose development is funded separately by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The TAOSF architecture provides an integrated approach to multi-vehicle coordination and sliding human-vehicle autonomy. It allows multiple mobile sensing assets to function in a cooperative fashion, and the operating mode of the vessels to range from autonomous control to teleoperated control. In this manner, TAOSF increases data-gathering effectiveness and science return while reducing demands on scientists for tasking, control, and monitoring. It combines and extends prior related work done by the authors and their institutions. The TAOSF architecture is applicable to other areas where multiple sensing assets are needed, including ecological forecasting, water management, carbon management, disaster management, coastal management, homeland security, and planetary exploration. The first field application chosen for TAOSF is the characterization of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Several components of the TAOSF system have been tested, including the OASIS boats, the communications and control interfaces between the various hardware and software subsystems, and an airborne sensor validation system. Field tests in support of future HAB characterization were performed under controlled conditions, using rhodamine dye as a HAB simulant that was dispersed in a pond. In this paper, we describe the overall TAOSF architecture and its components, discuss the initial tests conducted and outline the next steps.

On The Development of Parameterized Linear Analytical Longitudinal Airship Models

In order to explore Titan, a moon of Saturn, airships must be able to traverse the atmosphere autonomously. To achieve this, an accurate model and accurate control of the vehicle must be developed so that it is understood how the airship will react to specific sets of control inputs. This paper explains how longitudinal aircraft stability derivatives can be used with airship parameters to create a linear model of the airship solely by combining geometric and aerodynamic airship data. This method does not require system identification of the vehicle. All of the required data can be derived from computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing. This alternate method of developing dynamic airship models will reduce time and cost. Results are compared to other stable airship dynamic models to validate the methods. Future work will address a lateral airship model using the same methods.

Mars Balloon Flight Test Results

This paper describes a set of four Earth atmosphere flight test experiments on prototype helium superpressure balloons designed for Mars. Three of the experiments explored the problem of aerial deployment and inflation, using the cold, low density environment of the Earth’s stratosphere at an altitude of 30 -32 km as a proxy for the Martian atmosphere. Auxiliary carrier ba lloons were used in three of these test flights to lift the Mars balloon prototype and its supporting system from the ground to the stratosphere where the experiment was conducted. In each case, deployment and helium inflation was initiated after starting a parachute descent of the payload at 5 Pa dynamic pressure, thereby mimicking the conditions expected at Mars after atmospheric entry and high speed parachute deceleration. Upward and downward looking video cameras provided real time images from the fligh ts, with a dditional data provided by onboard temperature, pressure and GPS sensors. One test of a 660 m 3 pumpkin balloon was highly successful, achieving deployment, inflation and separation of the balloon from the flight train at the end of inflation; how ever, some damage was incurred on the balloon during this process. Two flight tests of 12 m diameter spherical Mylar balloons were not successful, although some lessons were learned based on the failure analyses. The final flight experiment consisted of a ground -launched 12 m diameter spherical Mylar balloon that ascended to the designed 30.3 km altitude and successfully floated for 9.5 hours through full noontime daylight and into darkness, after which the telemetry system ran out of electrical power and t racking was lost. The altitude excursions for this last flight were ±75 m peak to peak, indicating that the balloon was essentially leak free and functioning correctly. This provides substantial confidence that this balloon design will fly for days or week s at Mars if it can be deployed and inflated without damage.

Navigation and Perception for an Autonomous Titan Aerobot

[Abstract] The Huygens probe arrived at Saturn’s moon Titan on January 14, 2005, unveiling a world that is radically different from any other in the Solar system. The data obtained, complemented by continuing observations from the Cassini probe, show methane lakes, river channels and drainage basins, sand dunes, cryovolcanos and sierras. This has lead to an enormous scientific interest in a follow-up mission to Titan, using a robotic lighter-than-air vehicle (or aerobot). Aerobots have modest power requirements, can fly missions with extended durations, and have very long distance traverse capabilities. They can execute regional surveys, transport and deploy scientific instruments and in-situ laboratory facilities over vast distances, and also provide surface sampling at strategic science sites. This paper describes our progress in the development of the autonomy technologies that will be required for exploration of Titan. We provide an overview of the autonomy architecture and some of its key components. We also show results obtained from autonomous flight tests conducted in the Mojave desert.

High frequency vibration and high gravity force shock testing for potential Mars Sample Return

The current concept for a potential Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign includes a series of missions that could drill, package, and return Mars rock cores to Earth through four sequential flight missions. A combination of structural stability, migration, force, hardware testing and analysis were employed to determine elements within the potential MSR campaign that could alter the mechanical integrity of Mars rock cores during transport to Earth. Therefore, Mars simulant rock cores, such as Bishop Tuff and China Ranch Massive Gypsum, were drilled to create samples for survivability tests to simulate the high frequency vibrations of a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and high gravity force shock of the Earth Entry Vehicle (EEV) that would be expected during MSR. Prototype hardware was designed and fabricated to accommodate the cores desired for vibration and shock testing. Proto-flight (PF) and flight acceptance (FA) vibration levels were established for both solid and liquid MAV fuel types. Drilling methods were investigated to produce both pristine and fractured cores. Elements such as core orientation, amount of ullage (headspace), and clamshell position were tested to better understand the causes and amount of fracturing throughout these flight-like environments.

The development of a Martian atmospheric Sample collection canister

The collection of an atmospheric sample from Mars would provide significant insight to the understanding of the elemental composition and sub-surface out-gassing rates of noble gases. A team of engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology have developed an atmospheric sample collection canister for Martian application. The engineering strategy has two basic elements: first, to collect two separately sealed 50 cubic centimeter unpressurized atmospheric samples with minimal sensing and actuation in a self contained pressure vessel; and second, to package this atmospheric sample canister in such a way that it can be easily integrated into the orbiting sample capsule for collection and return to Earth. Sample collection and integrity are demonstrated by emulating the atmospheric collection portion of the Mars Sample Return mission on a compressed timeline. The test results achieved by varying the pressure inside of a thermal vacuum chamber while opening and closing the valve on the sample canister at Mars ambient pressure. A commercial off-the-shelf medical grade micro-valve is utilized in the first iteration of this design to enable rapid testing of the system. The valve has been independently leak tested at JPL to quantify and separate the leak rates associated with the canister. The results are factored in to an overall system design that quantifies mass, power, and sensing requirements for a Martian atmospheric Sample Collection (MASC) canister as outlined in the Mars Sample Return mission profile. Qualitative results include the selection of materials to minimize sample contamination, preliminary science requirements, priorities in sample composition, flight valve selection criteria, a storyboard from sample collection to loading in the orbiting sample capsule, and contributions to maintaining “Earth” clean exterior surfaces on the orbiting sample capsule.