Space Sampling and Exploration Robotics
A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 12722
Special Issue Editors
Interests: space exploration; sampling robotics; planetary soil; payload design; intelligent control
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Given the technical advantages of unmanned robotics, utilizing intelligent sampling robots to acquire planetary soil samples may be the most reliable and cost-effective solution for future human deep-space exploration. There are several unique challenges in unmanned sampling, such as long-distance time delay, uncertain underground formations, and limited sensor and mass resources; therefore, it is necessary to conduct research to improve the systems’ adaptability to complicated geological formations. Taking the sampling machine's power consumption and the planetary soil’s morphology into account, planetary sampling robots should be entirely closed-loop; they should be able to not only adapt to complicated geological formations, but also detect planetary regolith. From a theoretical viewpoint, space-soil–machine interactions (such as the penetrating, plowing, cutting, drilling, and blasting) involve three-dimensional deformation, unsteady plastic flow, and rates affected by mechanical and environmental coupling, which are challenging problems that must be solved. It should be noted that space soil may contain some unique components such as water, ice, and volatiles. Once the above interaction mechanism is understood, using mechanics models coupled with detecting payloads, uncertain space-soil and rock formations can be explored by unmanned robots, which can collect data on their mechanical, thermal, electrical, and volatile properties. Additionally, by returning these samples to Earth, more accurate results can be acquired. Such research should be applied to the design of space mining machines, to detection of the physical and chemical properties of space soil, and to furthering our understanding of where water comes from and the distribution of water ice in our early solar system.
For this Special Issue, we invite authors to contribute high-quality original research or review papers on planetary regolith and environments, space-soil–machine interaction modeling and validation, sampling robotics and systems, the detection of payloads, in situ resource utilization (ISRU), sensors and actuators in sampling, sampling tool design, in situ intelligent control, and other technologies related to space exploration robotics.
Dr. Junyue Tang
Prof. Dr. Shengyuan Jiang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- planetary regolith
- soil–machine interaction
- sampling robotics system
- detecting payloads
- property detection
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