Unmanned Systems Technology 006 | ECA Inspector Mk2 USV | Antenna systems | Northwest UAV NW-44 | Unmanned ground vehicles | Navigation systems | Lunar X challenge

81 Lunar X challenge | Insight Another ESF partner is Team DIANA, in Italy, which has developed an active suspension system for its Amalia rover, with automatic control software that allows stable operation on any terrain. The design of the rover has been developed in the Matlab, Simulink and Bond Graph modelling tools, while the design of the stereoscopic vision system and its analysis software has been developed using a model written in the Unified Robot Description Format (URDF). The team has also developed new techniques for SLAM for controlling Amalia without using navigation aids. The team sees potential for the wheel design and the sensing and control software, including the models, to be used in other, more Earth-bound types of autonomous vehicles. SpaceIL, the only Israeli team in the competition, has taken a different approach. It is using nano- and micro- satellite technologies to build a small, smart and relatively cheap spacecraft about the size of a domestic dishwasher. To conserve mass, SpaceIL developed the idea of a ‘space hop’, in which the craft lands on the Moon’s surface and then takes off again, rather than carrying a rover. It will then perform another landing, 500 m away, and take a picture to send back, thereby meeting the competition criteria. The Israeli team was actually the first to sign a launch agreement, working with US company Spaceflight Industries, which has bought a Falcon 9. The SpaceIL craft will sit in a capsule inside the launcher among a cluster of secondary payloads. Once the capsule separates from the launcher, it will automatically release the spacecraft, which will use its inertial sensors to guide it to the lunar surface. This is planned for launch in the second half of 2017. Several of the smaller teams are continuing with small budgets. Euroluna is a team from Denmark and Sweden developing a tiny rover called Romit. It is aiming for a payload of less than 3.5 kg for both the lander and the rover, using an ion thruster to get to the Moon slowly but cheaply. The financial constraints have meant that the team has had to come up with new ideas for navigating, controlling and even building the craft. For example, instead of using sophisticated sensors, Euroluna has restricted itself to using the Earth’s magnetic field, vision sensors and the craft’s angle to the Sun as the only navigation aids. For building the craft, the team has found that titanium wire normally used for spectacle frames is very useful for making harnesses and hinges for solar panels, and for the construction of wheels and wheel spokes. Another team, Team Plan B, is an initiative from Canadian company Adobri Solutions. It aims to use existing technologies in software, microprocessors, comms, guidance and robotic systems to produce a vehicle of around 100-150 kg for the competition. The flight controls will include two orbit- correction impulses – one main and one brake impulse – with direct arrival to the Moon’s surface and soft landing with airbags to break the craft’s fall. Other teams however have fallen by the wayside. For example, the only university-led project, the Lunar Lion team from Pennsylvania State University, pulled out at the end of 2015, despite the extended deadline. An independent panel of experts in planetary landing systems, programme formulation and space exploration looked at the team’s progress, especially in the hydrogen peroxide- powered landing system design and the agile programme development methods, and recommended that it withdraw and continue developments outside the competition. These will include closed-loop flight controls, optical navigation and advanced rocket engine design. Conclusion It will have taken ten years for the GLXP teams to reach the Moon, with many of the initial teams dropping out. The two- year extension shows just how difficult the project is, and the likelihood is that only five or six teams will actually reach the lunar surface, let alone navigate, take a picture and send it back. Along the way though expertise in motion systems, control algorithms, imaging and autonomous operation have been extended, and projects are now looking beyond the competition to develop autonomous systems both in orbit around the Earth and to explore other planets. Unmanned Systems Technology | February/March 2016 One low-budget system being developed is expected to weigh less than 3.5 kg, and will use an ion thruster to get to the Moon slowly but cheaply The wheel design for the Amalia rover has the potential to be used in other, more Earth-bound types of autonomous vehicles