Flyover Mapping and Modeling of Terrain Features
Mechanical Engineering Lead, Fall 2013 - Spring 2015
Subsurface caverns may be the best hope for safe havens and habitation on the Moon, and the best place on Mars to find life. While planetary caves have been hypothesized for decades, they have not been plausible exploration candidates due to lack of surface access and obscurity from orbit. Newly discovered planetary pits might be key to accessing subsurface voids, caves, and lava tubes. While the existence of pits is now unambiguous, how to explore them and whether any lead to extended caves and lava tubes is unknown.
Pits represent an unparalleled opportunity to access enigmatic subterranean spaces, but their complex geometry makes them impossible to fully observe from orbit. Future robotic exploration missions will target one of these pits. As a spacecraft is about to land, it flies at an altitude under a few hundred meters, traveling at a speed under tens of meters per second. As it flies over a pit during this time, it can collect high quality visual, inertial, and LIDAR data at unprecedented viewing angles from which to model the pit. Reconnaissance from flyover modeling will be used to inform approach and entry paths for rovers. It will be used to characterize geology, select likely locations for habitation, and inform follow on exploration.
The objective of our project and test was to develop and demonstrate the techniques necessary to generate high fidelity 3D models of extraterrestrial planetary pits. Flight testing on Earth with a descent trajectory and terrain feature analogous to those of a planetary mission validates the performance of flyover modeling.
Flight on the Masten Xombie sRLV provides the most relevant terrestrial testing environment possible. The trajectory profile closely follows that of autonomous planetary powered descent, including translational and rotational dynamics as well as shock and vibration. In addition, integration with and remote operations for a propulsive vehicle provide unique and valuable experience. A hexagonal structure made of shipping containers provides a terrain feature that serves as an appropriate analog for the rim and upper walls of a cylindrical lunar skylight.
The team's poster, which won the Boeing engineering award at the CMU Undergraduate Research Conference, can be seen here. Our paper was accepted at the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control conference and the Planetary Caves Conference.
Personal project responsibilities included:
- Wrote proposal for NASA funded sensor package which generates imagery and 3D maps of lunar terrain
- Programmed Matlab simulation to optimize geometry of sensor package
- Led Solidworks design and fabrication of flight sensor incorporating gimbaled laser range finder, IMU, stereo camera pair, color camera, and thermal camera
- Deployed device on Masten rocket in January 2015 to validate data collection over Mojave Desert
- Constructed 45 foot diameter structure in desert to mimic lunar terrain features
- Used flight data to create textured 3D reconstruction of lunar pit
- Project won prestigious Boeing engineering award at the CMU Undergraduate Research Conference
