Cold plate.

Cold plate. The rectangular slab is a ‘cold plate’. The plate is used to sink heat that is applied to a hot source during vacuum tests. Conduction and capacitance are measured during heat flow through parts that are placed between the hot and cold. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Layered chassis mold

Layered chassis mold The robot’s chassis mold must exhibit precise geometry over a large volume, which is a challenge. It is impractical for us to handle or machine one monolithic block of metal this size. One approach is to layer precisely-machined sections to achieve the intended result. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Optimization of composite material

Wired temp sensors Finite element analysis is used to optimize composite material details like shell thickness and fiber orientation. Loading conditions include acoustic, thrust and shaking from launch vehicle and rocket motors. These images correspond to loading conditions and fiber orientation within the composite material. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Thermal strap test

Wired temp sensors Composite thermal straps conduct heat from internal hot-spots to the robot’s radiator. An ‘L’-shaped strap was pre-tested in atmosphere by heating one end and observing the resulting temperatures. The test succeeded. The next step is vacuum testing. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Wired temp sensors

Wired temp sensors Small temperature sensors with even smaller wires report temperature readings that result from thermal-vacuum testing. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Astrobotic to License Access to Lunar Data Library

Astrobotic will execute robotic lunar missions to collect exclusive data needed by space agencies and aerospace firms planning Moon expeditions. Accurate lunar surface data are key to cutting costs, accelerating schedules and enhancing safety. Planners need a wide variety of information collected on the surface to enhance and confirm the less-detailed orbital observations of today’s lunar satellites. Astrobotic intends to collect these data sets starting in 2011 through a series of robotic missions to those areas on the Moon of high interest. Astrobotic’s missions will be self-financed,... [Read more]

Motor control by FPGA

Motor control by FPGA Seven brushless motors drive the robot and operate cameras because brushed motors would fail in the lunar environment. Brushed control wouldn’t do, but brushless control could burden the flight computer. Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays are the right intermediary to offload computer cycles while reliably controlling the motors. Brushless motor control is underway on commercial development boards before porting to flight hardware. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →

Beam testing

Beam testing This composite beam failed intentionally during testing. The carbon sheathing delaminated from its honeycomb core. The test loads a simply-supported beam with two equal forces. The result is moment without shear at the center and shear without moment at the end. This is a standard means for evaluating beam performance. From AstroboticBlogPhotos  Read More →