The speaker will present a novel mission architecture for the in-situ exploration of small Solar System bodies. In this proposed mission architecture, a mother spacecraft would deploy one or more autonomous mobility platforms to the surface of a small body. Each platform would employ minimal internal actuation within a sealed enclosure — a unique design that exploits the environment’s microgravity to enable controlled mobility. Once deployed, the platforms would behave as spacecraft/rover hybrids, performing attitude-controlled hops for long-range travel followed by precise tumbling to reach targeted surface locations. In turn, the mother spacecraft would act as a communication relay to Earth and would take measurements remotely to complement those collected in-situ by the hybrids. I will discuss the scientific rationale, progress to date, and results from recent experiments demonstrating controlled mobility aboard one of NASA’s reduced-gravity airplanes. I will conclude the talk with an overview of related projects in the field of autonomous aerospace systems currently under investigation in my research group.

Location:
Room: 12.183
Bldg: Engineering and Visual Arts (EV) Building
1515 St. Catherine Street West
Montreal, Quebec
H3G2W1