M4 - Space Apps Challenge

M4| Virtual Planetary Exploration

Awards & Nominations

M4 has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Local Peoples' Choice Winner

Virtual Planetary Exploration

Your challenge is to create interactive 3D models of equipment (e.g., planetary geology tools) that future space explorers can use for activities like exploring a planetary surface.

Lidar Rover - Team M4

Summary

Our goal is to create an interactive 3D geology tool for lunar and further planetary exploration. We looked at the Apollo-16 press kit to study the microwave instruments used and also the tools astronauts use to explore distant worlds by using remote operation in the ideology of reducing astronaut mobility. These tools are used to obtain samples (for which the tests are to be performed) and be placed in containers and are remotely operated with the help of a transmitter sensor and receiver sensor with Arduino. Our final goal was to come up with a topography (content scanning), using the LIDAR concept, for a location by having multiple scans over the surface and also at different locations.

How We Addressed This Challenge

To solve the problem statement “Virtual Planetary Exploration”. Here we developed a rover that could measure the topography by means of LIDAR mechanism with LASER as the tool. It also collects a soil sample and store it with the help of a drill bit and robotic arm. This is important in space exploration as it is completed remote operated, so that it could access placed which could not be manually accessed by the astronauts. Also, the topography measurement instrument is small compared to the present ones which ensures efficient performance. This entire instrument works by receiving the instructions from the astronaut through a transmitter, captures it by a receiver and work accordingly. Through this we try to achieve enhanced exploration in external bodies through remote operation. For further reference and images kindly refer to the Google Drive link (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ojnZvAvDYV2fQ26XLt7mc1czDjeXHprG?usp=sharing)

How We Developed This Project

An article regarding the future scope of NASA said that NASA is trying to make a small instrument for measuring the topography of external bodies which inspired us to work on this topic. We thought of implementing this topography measuring instrument in a rover along with some additional features. Here the rover works same like the conventional ones. In LIDAR, the LASER from the source is reflected by a spherical reflector rotating for the LASER to get reflected in 360 degrees, covering a wide area. Additionally, a mechanism for collecting sand sample is deployed which includes a drill bit guided by a pathway that drills into the surface and a robotic arm is provided which digs the soil from the pre drilled surface and collects it in container, which has divisions as per the parameters to be checked. This entire mechanism is controlled by the user through the transmitter and receiver technology using Arduino. We have using designing software “SolidWorks 2020” for design the components and the assembly of the model. The tools were designed with the help of NASA tools software (https://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/tool-registry/) as the reference. During the ideation the problem faced was in reducing the size of the LIDAR mechanism as well as achieving widespread reflection of LASER, which we overcame by using a spherical lens.

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

We have used various data regarding the tools to be used for space exploration from the press report of Apollo-16 which we used to develop our robotic arm and driller. From the educational article “GETTING DIRTY ON MARS” which was published in collaboration with NASA we got the ideas of parameters that are to be measured from the soil collection in an external body from which we got the idea of providing partitions in the container. Also, the concept of Rover and LIDAR were studied over with the help of certain websites related to space exploration in NASA and others.