The Shapeshifter: A Morphing, Multi-Agent, Multi-Modal Robotic Platform for the Exploration of Titan

Agha-mohammadi, Ali-akbar [Principal Investigator] ; Tagliabue, Andrea ; Schneider, Stephanie ; Morrell, Benjamin ; Pavone, Marco ; Hofgartner, Jason ; Nesnas, Issa AD ; Carpenter, Kalind ; Amini, Rashied B ; Kalantari, Arash(Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA, United States)

关键词: ACTIVE CONTROL;    ALGORITHMS;    ARCHITECTURE (COMPUTERS);    AUTONOMOUS DOCKING;    FLIGHT;    GROUND STATIONS;    QUADCOPTERS;    ROLLING;    PERMANENT MAGNETS;    ROBOTS;    SHAPES;    SWIMMING;    TITAN;   

RP-ID  :  HQ-E-DAA-TN75831

学科分类：人工智能

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

In this report, we present a robotic platform, the Shapeshifter, that allows multi-domain and redundant mobility on Saturn's moon Titan - and potentially other bodies with atmospheres. The Shapeshifter is a collection of simple and a affordable robotic units, called Cobots, comparable to personal palm-size quadcopters. By attaching and detaching with each other, multiple Cobots can shape-shift into novel structures, capable of (a) rolling on a at surface, to increase the traverse range, (b) flying in a flight array formation, and (c) swimming on or under liquid. A ground station, called the Home-base, complements the robotic platform, hosting science instrumentation and providing power to recharge the batteries of the Cobots. Our Phase I study had the objective of providing an initial assessment of the feasibility of the proposed robotic platform architecture, and in particular (a) to characterize the expected science return of a mission to the Sotra-Patera region on Titan; (b) to verify the mechanical and algorithmic feasibility of building a multi-agent platform capable of flying, docking, rolling and un-docking; (c) to evaluate the increased range and efficiency of rolling on Titan w.r.t to flying; (d) to define a case-study of a mission for the exploration of the cryovolcano Sotra-Patera on Titan, whose expected variety of geological features challenges conventional mobility platforms.