robotmatrix.org

The Mars Exploration Rovers act as robot geologists while they are on the surface of Mars.

The mars exploration rover body is called the warm electronics box, or "WEB" for short, which is temperature-controlled.

The Pancam Mast Assembly of the Mar exploration rover acts as a periscope for the science instrument that is housed inside the rover body for thermal reasons and to provide height and a better point of view for the high-resolution color stereo pair of CCD camera.

The rover arm (also called the instrument deployment device, or IDD) holds and maneuvers the instruments that help scientists get up-close and personal with Martian rocks and soil.

Much like a human arm, the robotic arm has flexibility through three joints: the rover's shoulder, elbow, and wrist. The arm enables a tool belt of scientists´ instruments to extend, bend, and angle precisely against a rock to work as a human geologist would: grinding away layers, taking microscopic images, and analyzing the elemental composition of the rocks and soil.

The Mars Exploration Rover has six wheels, each with its own individual motor.

The main source of power for each rover comes from a multi-panel solar array. The power system for the Mars Exploration Rover includes also two rechargeable batteries that provide energy for the rover when the sun is not shining, especially at night.

The rover has both a low-gain and high-gain antenna that serve as both its "voice" and its "ears".

The low-gain antenna sends and receives information in every direction; that is, it is "omni-directional." The antenna transmits radio waves at a low rate to the Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas on Earth. The high-gain antenna can send a "beam" of information in a specific direction and it is steerable, so the antenna can move to point itself directly to any antenna on Earth. The benefit of having a steerable antenna is that the entire rover doesn´t necessarily have to change positions to talk to Earth.

Not only can the rovers send messages directly to Earth, but they can uplink information to other spacecraft orbiting Mars.

The benefits of using the orbiting spacecraft are that the orbiters are closer to the rovers than the Deep Space Network antennas on Earth and the orbiters have Earth in their field of view for much longer time periods than the rovers on the ground.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, has several major subsystems, almost all of which have back ups (redundant systems) to ensure mission success just in case the first one fails. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is designed to be "single fault tolerant," which means that even if any one item fails, the spacecraft will still be able to complete the mission.

Ranger Neutral Buoyancy Vehicle (NBV), a neutral buoyancy version of the system. It incorporated advances in neutral buoyancy simulation technology, such as active buoyancy compensators and automatic control of the center of gravity for fine rotational buoyancy.

With a potential space shuttle launch opportunity, it also evolved into the Ranger Telerobotic Shuttle Experiment. The robot was to be attached to a Spacelab pallet within the cargo bay of the space shuttle orbiter.

The main application of the Ranger space robot is in the area of near space assembly & Maintenance. It is used for satellite inspection, maintenance, refueling, and orbit adjustment. It is also proficient in operating robotic tasks under the neutral buoyancy condition. For example, robotic compatible orbital replacement unit change-out, complete end-to-end connect and disconnect of electrical connector, adaptive control for freefalling operation and station keeping, two-arm coordinated motion, coordinated multi-location control, and night operations.

Robonaut is a humanoid robot designed by the Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center in a collaborative effort with DARPA.

The Robonaut project seeks to develop and demonstrate a robotic system that can function as an Extravehicular Activity (EVA, or spacewalks) astronaut equivalent.

Telepresence Control System

To achieve this goal, NASA designs the telepresence control system to allow a human operator to control the actions of a remotely operated robonaut robot. The Robonaut's telepresence system includes Helmet Mounted Displays (HMD), force and tactile feedback gloves and posture trackers. Telepresence uses virtual reality display technology to visually immerse the operator in the robot's workspace. This way the teleoperator feels as if he or she is in the place of the robot. Visual feedback is provided by a stereo display helmet and includes live video from Robonaut's head cameras. The HMD provides a view into the robot's environment, facilitating intuitive operation and natural interaction with the work site.

Dexterous Hand

Another critical component of the robonaut robot is its dexterous hand. Each Robonaut Hand has a total of fourteen degrees of freedom. It consists of a forearm which houses the motors and drive electronics, a two degree of freedom wrist, and a five finger, twelve degree of freedom hand.

The hand itself is broken down into two sections: a dexterous work set which is used for manipulation, and a grasping set which allows the hand to maintain a stable grasp while manipulating or actuating a given object. This is an essential feature for tool use. The dexterous set consists of two 3 degree of freedom fingers (pointer and index) and a 3 degree of freedom opposable thumb. The grasping set consists of two, 1 degree of freedom fingers (ring and pinkie) and a palm degree of freedom. All of the fingers are shock mounted into the palm.