Exploring Space

EXPLORING SPACE
The chart illustrates how the Big Brain Machine and Humanoido Laboratories conduct their own space program. Various levels of space are defined according to their exploration programs and space definitions.

Humanoid robots are adaptable to space

The Big Brain machine has a manned space program and has launched humans into Next and Near Space approximately 40 times.

There is always a risk associated with manned space flight and as the distance from Earth increases, so does the risk.

The robust Micro Space program is relatively safe and used for academic purposes, having launched insects and various instruments into space.

Solar panels can power a tiny outpost in space

Solar System Space and Ultra Space is currently safely explored with the array of very powerful telescopes and Monster Machines.

This includes the newest M3T, IT, ET and OT space omnipresence telescopes that are able to exist in multiple places at the same time.

For example, the large Big Brain supercomputer that controls these telescopes remains on Earth at the Deep Space Center and at the Ultra Space Administration while the space parts and components are at numerous locations in space, called Adjuncts.

Brain in a jar technology

Brain in a Jar technology could keep the space station operating autonomously and evolve to various applications.

Our space program is interested in developing a micro space shuttle and a micro outpost in space. This is an ongoing project that began decades ago.

We've periodically blogged these ideas and worked on evolving the designs. Many of the designs developed, i.e. space telescope, could be integrated into the program. This would take exploration into Solar System Space and create orbital flights. We are reaching the crossroads in space exploration and foresee a new technology breakthrough.

We are at the crossroads of space and time

Conjecturing, we wonder if the next step into space for man will be represented by the human being transformed into a space faring humanoid avatar.

Our solar system space program could be conducted with space stations, shuttles and other space equipment designed for humanoid robots which won't need to breathe air, eat bulky food, drink water, or create waste products as we know it. They will also have a greater range of thermal operations.

Brain Cortex Solar Panel Install Part 41

BRAIN CORTEX SOLAR PANEL INSTALL PART 41

The Cortex solar panel was installed inside the brain jar above the power unit's top level. The bottom of the panel is fit to the top ledge of the battery holder, which holds the bottom of the solar panel in place without any hardware. The top of the solar panel has two angle brackets holding it, connected together as shown. The back side of the solar panel has a sticky substance which nicely grips the angle bracket's long extension side. It can also serve as a wire holder as shown.

This is the larger solar panel rated at 3 volts and 120 mA designed to power the brain and trickle charge the batteries during the day. Tests show the panel works in available room lighting.

Index to the Brain Cortex
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2013/11/brain-cortex-index-part-16.html

Age of Molecular Mining

AGE OF MOLECULAR MINING THE UNIVERSE
Molecular mining has come of age with the recent introduction of the most powerful molecular telescope ever built. This telescope sports spectacular features with the highest resolution and largest telescopic boiler face plate ever designed, built and successfully put into operation.

The telescope maintains iconic compatibility with the previous array of extremely powerful telescopes and adds a number of new features. As of November 28th, 2013, two images are obtained through the Massive Molecular Mining M3T Telescope, one of Saturn showing the globe and a huge array of crisp rings in visible energy.

The other image is in moleculars showing things never seen before and opens the door to many new studies and experiments. This is now a color telescope version to facilitate the visible energy mode, while hundreds of telescope controls are available as developed for previous telescopes. Compatibility between telescopes was one of the best features introduced to the line of extremely powerful telescopes.

The M3T has the ability to rapidly switch back and forth from Moleculars to color Visible Energy, and visa versa. Moleculars have a typical unchanging unique hue of their own. Thus far, the M3T has explored one object in the solar system. The next target planned is a special galaxy deep in the Universe after config.

Brain Cortex Update Part 23

BRAIN CORTEX UPDATE
PART 23
Wednesday November 6th 2013

The state of the Cortex is doing well. We currently have all the parts we think are needed for main assembly. The Propeller chip circuit is expanded. It will take longer to build the complete circuits and do testing.
 
MOTHERBOARD
The main board is now partially assembled due to the decision to add more circuits and make more changes.

ROUND ROBIN
The round robin arrangement of batteries is being worked out. The idea is to mount ten individual holders without compromising the strength of the jar and maintaining the ability to reach in and change one or more batteries.

DUAL FUNCTIONS
The single board, Propeller driven, will have dual functions. One is for mind functioning. Two is for testing and sensors.

OPTIONS
The Cortex will have options installed: LED, speaker, CaS photo cell. The control panel is currently in the design stage.

DUPE CORTEX
It's decided a Dupe Cortex will be constructed for machine brain to machine brain transfer. This is like a mind meld that backs up data and consciousness the main cortex has. This will ensure the longevity of the cortex whose objective is achieving a kind of immortality.

SOLAR PANELS
Two solar panels are now obtained, one for the main brain cortex and one for the Dupe Cortex and experiments/testing.

EEPROM It was discovered the main board lacks EEPROM so this will need to be installed. Parts on hand will be used and this includes a 32K chip.

MEMORY There is some thought about adding a second 32K chip, bringing the memory total up to 32K ROM, 32K RAM, 32K First EEPROM and 32K 2nd EEPROM. This may or may not happen on the next larger cortex.

CORTEX SCHEMATIC Work is going well on the cortex schematic which is now entering v1.6.

MIND MELD
Main Brain Cortex and Dupe Cortex are designed to mind meld, i.e. transfer the mind of the first to the mind of the second. This ensures longevity and possible immortality.

IMMORTALITY
There may be different definitions of immortal and immortality within this project. Longevity of life may have variance of how far an entity travels forward in time based on the time flow with the passage of events.

TIME TRAVEL TRANSITION LINE
There's a transition line that occurs as the brain cortex time travels into the future, whereby a leap of technology greatly exceeds the brain. There are great ramifications to this effect. 

Index to the Brain Cortex
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2013/11/brain-cortex-index-part-16.html

Brain Cortex Solar Cells Part 21

BRAIN CORTEX SOLAR CELL POWER & CHARGING PART 21
Put together solar cells to match a battery pack for charging. The number of cells can determine voltage and supplied amperage. The acquisition of an additional panel for the cortex project enables more brains. Two panels, both 3-volt, have capacities of 60 and 120 mA. Series and parallel combinations are possible to drive a load at 3 or 6 volts and to charge batteries to balance battery pack mAh values. In particular, the 60 mA panel is useful for trickle charging. Although the estimated draw of the Cortex is around 30 mA, the actual value could run much higher depending on cog usage. More tests are in the works.

US$10.31 3v @ 120 mA   $.09 per mA
US$06.04 3v @ 060 mA   $.10 per mA

When using a solar panel for charging batteries, use a blocking Schottky 58117 diode to prevent the solar panel from drawing power from the batteries when there is no light.

Two panels will drive a low power 3 volt Propeller circuit and a 6 volt sensor circuit.

The small single solar panel will drive a smaller brain cortex with one Propeller chip.

Index to the Brain Cortex
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2013/11/brain-cortex-index-part-16.html

Brain Cortex Update Part 17

BRAIN CORTEX UPDATE PART 17
MONDAY NOVEMBER 4TH 2013
A journey farther, deeper and longer than ever before into the deepest part of the electronic parts plaza took place yesterday.

— at the heart of this experiment, as part of the Big Brain project, is a special living cortex machine which is designed for human brain to machine transfer, and to extend the life of both symbiotic human and machine, in the most simplistic way, yet representative of greater things to come —
 
There's no doubt about the sacrifices made to keep this project going. The ravages of this often arduous journey have exceeded the extreme physical limits of any human — i.e. being thrown around on a violent bus with no shock absorbers, having a leg torn, a hip twisted and sprained, bruised and being trampled by enraged stampeding crowds of thousands of people, becoming car sick on the taxi with the driver from Hell, catching flu germs from thousands of people in small hot humid places, becoming lost amidst twisting streets with no rhyme or reason and maps that don't properly match the city jungle, and walking (5 miles) to reach a futuristic home in the sky. This also includes walking up six stories and back down again, and back and forth (yoyo effect), in the skyscraper of a parts plaza, because someone decided to turn off the elevators and escalators to save money.

However, on the flip side of the coin, the rewards are totally spectacular and great, mind boggling, like a great fantastic dream from the future, and the climb upwards from level 1 to level 5 inside the electronics parts plaza was like traversing the stairway to Heaven, as every electronic part in and beyond imagination seemed to be available.

The Cortex project now has the parts it needs and remains fully funded by Humanoido Laboratories and supporters and investors are fully in favor of ramping up and increasing the project to include not only the current cortex, but a possible array of new sophisticated and simplified demonstrative cortex' and a ramping up of human brain to machine transfer experiments.

The parts rewards this time include a new solar panel for a smaller test cortex, perhaps a micro cortex (smaller than the mini cortex) to be placed in the smallest jar, and a multiple power cell mount array for ten individual cells for the large cortex. It will also serve for other experiments and directly drive a Parallax Propeller chip.

A large number of brass hardware spacers were obtained to attach the power cell mounts to the jar walls. Phenolic insulators were obtained in a quantity large enough to earthquake-proof the jar to a higher level.

An instrument panel was obtained to read the voltage level and display it on a digital readout. This has two leads for the supply to power it and two leads to be used for the voltage input. Since the device has 3 leads, one is shared with the two inputs.

One challenge is reading the Chinese instruction page for wire connections because no schematic is provided. The device instructions are not online and so a translator is needed, making some delay for work on the control panel.

Brain Cortex Index Part 16

Brain Cortex Part 5 - Modules

Looking through the transparent jar, the beginning of the intelligent Brain Cortex life form is taking shape. Seen is the Propeller brain circuit prototyped on a solderless breadboard with a speaker and LED for testing. At top right is a 3 volt 120 mA solar panel that charges the batteries and possibly a super super cap energy system. At bottom is a package of desiccant silica gel to prevent moisture from forming in the jar. In the circuit, to compensate for the wide range of fluctuation voltages (over time), the Propeller chip's BOE (Brown Out Enable) must be disabled. Not shown, batteries, super super capacitor and solar panel switching circuits.

BRAIN CORTEX MODULES
PART 5

The LIVING Brain Cortex is now congealing together in the form of modules, which includes the cortex board, solar collector, desiccator system, battery supply, and a super super capacitor by design. The cortex board includes crystal regulation, long term EEPROM memory, a USB interface (Prop Plug), LED and speaker. The latter two are for preliminary testing.


— the brain cortex is a living machine based on the Parallax Propeller chip, designed to think, converse, learn, remember, and ask questions. With maintenance, the cortex could outlive humans —

The modules are being arranged as some will set on the home jar floor, and some will attach to jar walls. The cortex board could attach behind the jar label with the solar panel on the opposite wall. The battery supply will attach on the jar floor due to its weight and the desiccator will set somewhere in between. Modules will mount on precut sections of green transparent board using spaces which in turn will mount on various sections of the internal sides of the jar.

BATTERY UPDATE
The 1.5 volt AA battery has been replaced with a more energy efficient 1.5 volt D size. Two of these will provide 3 volts to the Propeller chip.

Brain Cortex Machine Part 4 - Batteries

BRAIN CORTEX MACHINE
BATTERIES - PART 4
BOOT YOUR BATTERY OR GIVE IT THE BOOT?

A market survey of batteries in common stores will reveal the banning of lead acid batteries and the proliferation of alkaline batteries. Reading up on the care and feeding (recharging) of a variety of finicky batteries is complicated and sometimes confusing.

THE FINICKY BATTERY
How many times did a trusty rechargeable battery go dead in your lifetime? A battery is not a simple thing to maintain. It needs levels of charge, specific voltages, specific currents, and specific charging times. It requires a charging cycle involved with timing variants that cannot be too much or too little, too frequent or too infrequent. Plus, to add to the confusion, no two batteries are exactly alike.

UNENDING MISERY HAS COMPANY
It doesn't end there. Nickel metal hydride and nicad batteries have memory, so trying to trickle charge these is either impossible with simple charging or it becomes a complicated set of rules to follow with a smart programmed charger that can not only recharge batteries but sense their condition as well. Even more complicated is that devices drain batteries at different rates and different batteries may drain at different rates even with the same machine.

MAINTAINING BATTERIES
Batteries must also be maintained. Overcharge, undercharge, and the frequency of charging all effect the battery life. Charging may never reach the full capacity of the battery, depending on its age life cycle. Environment is also a factor as batteries can give up the ship when the temperature drops to freezing temps in winter.

NEW TECHNOLOGY SUPER CAP
The dream is to perhaps toss the battery altogether and use another technology like a super super capacitor that can hold a large enough amount of energy so that it can be drained over several days. However, these are often quoted as having the ability to last only minutes or seconds!

SUPER CAP LONGEVITY
We determined the longevity (time in which it can deliver useable power) of a massive super capacitor using calculus dv/dt = i/c. At .03 amps and rounding to 3 volts for the Propeller chip, a 100 F super capacitor can provide only 2.7 hours of drain, while a 500 F super capacitor is more practical at 13 hours. Two of these capacitors in tandem could indeed help the Cortex make it through the night without solar power, providing the caps are fully charged during the day and the batteries have full reserves.

CORTEX REQUIREMENTS
Our requirements are to supply some charging energy from a solar panel that may have periods of lessened energy during the day (as if the sun went behind clouds, or more realistically, a light was turned off inside a room.

During the night, the machine will draw energy and the solar panel will automatically disengage. The battery, or super super capacitor must have enough energy to survive the night. In this situation, we set the bar at 2 days reserve.

TRI LEVEL ENERGY SYSTEM
Now considered is a tri level energy system. The TRI POWER includes the solar cells, super super capacitor, and batteries. Room lighting will activate the solar panel and trickle charge the super capacitor which helps maintain the battery during the night.

CHARGING COMMON ALKALINE
A number of sources describe charging common alkaline batteries, but this is complicated too, as its important to sense the heat level of the battery to ascertain when the charge cycle should be completed. This does not fit into a simple charging scheme.

CONCLUSION
It's still up in the air as to which battery type will work the best with a simple charging system. Alkaline is most common, yet the availability of Nickel Metal Hydride is still a consideration. Lithium Ion has charging requirements that are not met by the solar panel. Lead acid batteries are not available in the size required. Yet, energy supplied to the Cortex must be constant, reliable, or the brain will die and cease to function. This is why the consideration is now from three electric sources - solar, capacitive, and battery. Solar is renewable energy and the capacitor can store it and release it over time. The challenge is now finding a suitable battery.

Brain Cortex Index Part 16

Brain Cortex Part 3 - Solar Panel

This solar panel will keep the cortex brain alive

BRAIN CORTEX SOLAR PANEL

Polycrystalline panel back side

This post represents more updates to our Brain Cortex in a jar project. The rabbit jar, as discussed in the previous post, has slightly squared off sides and this is a perfect form factor for the internal solar panel that will be statically mounted inside along the jar.

Walk in electronics store - Taiwan

POSITIONING
In this way, the jar can be positioned sideways stationary to gather in light relative to the incoming light angle of the source to create the Propellers power, without the problems of a round jar rolling around or deflecting the incoming light at various circular induced angles.

Homes Kit Solar Panel (Taiwan)

FUNCTION
The panel is fully functional with room ambient light, artificial lighting, and direct solar light. During the day when located in a room, the cells act as a trickle charger for the two 1.5-volt rechargeable AA batteries at approximately 1.3 volts. With more direct lighting, the Propeller chip is sustainable at its full requirement of 3.1 volts without battery deficit depletion.

Solar Panel SM-8656, 3V @ 120 MA

NO BATTERY NEEDED
Under certain lighting conditions where the voltage output is around 3 volts, the solar panel can power the Cortex without battery power.

DAY NIGHT MODE
We are working on a circuit that will automatically switch the Cortex from day to night mode. In day mode, the solar panel provides power and recharge ability, and in night mode the Cortex switches over to battery power.

SOLAR PANEL SPECS
The Solar Panel is purchased from the main electronics parts store. The Homes polycrystalline solar module is rated for operations at 3v @ 120 mA, part number SM-8656,  88 (L) X 58 (W) X 5 (H) mm, weight 35.85 grams. Homes provides a choice of 30 different solar panels and solar modules. Most of these are in stock at the electronics parts store mounted near the ceiling.

EXPERIMENT
In a typical experiment, the panel put out 1.3 volts in ambient room light and up to 3.4 volts directly under a high intensity lamp.

COST & POWER
The NT$299 (US$10.17) priced Solar Panel has a rating of (P=EI) 25 ohms, 0.36 watt as calculated based on its specification rating. 

ONLINE POWER CALCULATOR
Here is an online calculator for calculating power and other values. http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-ohm.htm.

MANUFACTURER
The manufactures web site is at http://www.100y.com.tw/htm1/542901234.htm. As mounted and protected in the jar, the estimated expected life of the solar panel is from 20 to 40 years.

Robot Explorer Log 11 Creating Intelligent Life

ROBOT EXPLORER - Qualifying as intelligent life? It's hard to imagine at this early stage, that a bucket of bolts and hardware, with some electrical parts thrown in for good measure, can become an intelligent life form, but this is exactly what will happen over the next several months. How long does it take to create a new life form? It doesn't take place overnight. Like the birthing process of humans, several months are required to cook up the ingredients (parts assembly) and then educate (program) the new being. This new brain may be trimmed with over 16,000 processors, controlling hundreds and thousands of functions.

SPACE - THE NEEDED FRONTIER: Run out of desk space? There's a desk next to the desk shown in the above photo, and a desk above it. So it's desk X3, yet the space is already filled and overflowing. It's the Lab's special way of gaining more work area from the same amount of space within a finite room.

ROBOT EXPLORER LOG 11
CREATING INTELLIGENT LIFE
"We're not only looking for intelligent life in the Universe, we're also creating life and sending it out into the Universe."

CREATING NEW LIFE
Creating new life forms is nothing new for the Lab. Work began in 2002 for developing a powerful new humanoid brain. This led to a life form with limited cognizance. When the Lab's first humanoid was created in 1955, it became the robot model that led ultimately to new life form experiments in the 1980s. Although these award winning robots had intelligence, they were nothing like their new counterparts after the year 2000.

LIFE EXPERIMENTS
Experiments with neural nets and new ways to enhance processor chips (Supertronic) paved the way for a more intelligent brain. Eventually, in 2013, these brains found their way into the Robot Explorer (RE), an intelligence planned for trips to the outer fringes of the Solar System, and potentially beyond. Intelligence, neural net, and life will be instilled into RE step by step.

TEN POINTS OF DEFINING LIFE
What constitutes an intelligent life form? Some precursor things to think about are 1) ability to make decisions, 2) self preservation, 3) the attainment and/or reaching toward goals and objectives, 4) autonomous behavior, 5) ability to learn, 6) ability to communicate, 7) ability to sleep and regenerate, 8) mobility, 9) self aware, and 10) ability to memorize and recall memory. In the past, it was believed that intelligent life forms needed the ability to procreate, however, we clearly know today that people who are sterile are still very much alive and qualify as life forms.

SENDING LIFE INTO THE UNIVERSE
Thus far, we've sent various intelligent life forms into space: insectronauts into Micro Space, Robots and humans into Next Space, and human astronauts into Near Space. As the distance from Earth increases, more dependence will be placed on machines that have life and can make their own decisions to explore other worlds and places in space and time.

Brain Knitting

The first pre-brain knitting experiment

BRAIN KNITTING
The Big Brain Initiative is working on the creation of an evolutionary knitted electronic brain, made from impetus Parallax Propeller microelectronics, that can predetermine its own growth destiny.

In this remarkable one-of-a-kind experimental project, Predetermined Growth Destiny is basically putting together a structural outline of "primordial state" processors and letting the mix evolve into a brain.

Using PGDs, applications could include pre colonization of planets like Mars, growing brains automatically in the lab, evolving the growth of an existing brain, and growing parts for human bodies.

Initially parts grown could conjure a multitude of machines and machine parts as well. The patterns for PGDs would work well with three dimensional printers, knitting new brains in a relatively short period of time.

PGDs could result in armies of brained workers that could do mining on asteroids, explore the Solar System, and interface with conditions that humans would find inhospitable. PGDs could also result in appendage brain concatenations for humans to extend their functions.

Robot Explorer Log 3 First Assembly

The rough and approximate design of the interplanetary robot explorer. Note, a second processor chip (Propeller chip) is setting on the top second breadboard, and a possible third is awaiting the design outcome. Various parts are scattered around waiting for positional tryout.

Still undecided is the exact battery pack position for the heater. It's believed engineering polymer will line the top and hold a total of four breadboards. One breadboard may mount in the front for sensors. Also note, the wheels are not completed nor in place.

What is seen is the wheel base plate. These final wheels will have drive mobility and traction on ice, slippery "oil" type surfaces and frozen slush conditions. Where is this robot explorer going? Stay tuned and find out!

ROBOT EXPLORER LOG 3 - FIRST ASSEMBLY

Work continues at a rapid pace. As things are designed, the physical locations are tried on the mock robot. Last night, the pins filled up on the Propeller chip! A total of 32 pins were loaded with functions and sensors and more GPIO were needed. So the inevitable happened, a second Parallax Propeller chip was added to the board for 32 more pins.

We're standing by with a third chip. It's possible this one could have a small neural net with more cores for a higher level of decision making. The BIg Brain will create a high level of autonomy although the intelligence level is unknown at this time.

NAVIGATION & LIFE SCIENCES
Two Pings are shown for navigation, and one pyroelectric infrared device will be adapted for the life sciences section. Programming will be unique as the robot will position itself which will determine the Ping positions.

INTERFACE & RADIO CHANNELS
A small parallel interface is designed to handle the chip-to-chip communications and the robot now has two radio channels that will allow it to phone home. A small truth table was completed and the command roster was created.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
R&D continues with ongoing atmospheric studies, and a number of open studies regarding sensors, navigation, radio, power, and temperature.

SENSOR APPORTIONING
The sensors and functions were apportioned, and this left eight pins free on each chip. The extra sensors and functions, with the extra prop chip, called for another two breadboards. However, when sizing up space requirements for added sensors, it was clear the top carriage required four breadboards.

BATTERY POWER CHAMBER
There is a move to place the battery power chamber at mid level along with a frontal breadboard to hold forward and ground viewing sensors. This will require moving the front spacers back about half inch.

POWER SUPPLIES
The decision was made to have three power supplies and go with four AA batteries at 6-volts to drive the heater. Already we're we have our eye on a more powerful dynamo to deliver a more hefty charge.

PARTS POSITIONING
Photos so far just show positioning of parts which are temp only. Note the green propeller and dynamo is robbed from the spinning quadcopter project. The position of the Windmill is being tested at the center of the chassis but this negates the 4-cell power supply position. More work on this is needed.

Robot Explorer Log 2 First Considerations

Proto test robot processor stack experiment

REMOTE PLANETARY MOON AUTONOMOUS EXPLORATION ROBOT PROJECT LOG 2

Photo: Look closely - two Propeller chip processors are stacked in this multi-processor experiment. While the stacking arrangement is possible, a miss firing of the pin states caused by some off-planet anomaly at the remote reaches of the Solar System could lead to an unprotected condition and thus cause a premature processor anomaly. The stacked processor design was scrapped for this mission.

Two processor chips can be safely used in a side by side parallel design mode that safely offers pin protection from one chip to the other. Coupled with hard protection, an occurring glitch could be squelched with the autonomous reset function if properly interpreted.

Currently, the robot has a single Propeller chip with all 32 pins filled. If more sensors are required, a second processor chip may be added to form a collective, the pins may be rearranged, or multiplexing may be introduced.

If two chips are used, in theory, the Big Brain could loan its technology, thus creating a total of over 2,000 processors. A high number of processors are often required for operating AI neural nets. It would also offer a sum of 64 pins for added sensors and functions such as multiple ADCs for specific monitoring of each power supply.

FIRST CONSIDERATIONS: The project is taking on interested members to serve as science team advisers for the Remote Solar System Moon Autonomous Exploration Robot Project. We now have a new member for the microbiology team and life sciences division.  As a result of the influx of questions about the project, a short Q & A section is added below. 

Q - Will the chassis crack at -289 deg. F.?

A - The robot must have a coat of insulation to keep the heater's warmth inside. The coat will cover the conductive and heat distributive aluminum chassis.

Q - How will you test the materials and mechanics?

A - Testing in a conventional food freezer is a good idea. The sensors can be operated at their lower temperature ratings below the freezing point to simulate operation inside the insulated container. More elaborate tests may involve chambers of dry ice at -109 degrees or a vessel of liquid nitrogen at -320 to -346 deg. F.

Q - What is particulate matter content of the atmosphere and will this effect the wind dynamo?

A - No one knows the speed or particulate matter content of the air on the surface. Roughly speaking, the robot could function on the current conventional batteries a day with no wind or a much longer time with wind. Either way, it will work and gather science.

Q - Will the components function at -289 degrees?

A - Yes, electronic components are designed to function because the insulated probe, covered with insulation and heated with a heater, will not reach -289 deg. F. Components will undoubtedly run at their lower limits so the probe will not be heated to room temperatures. Cold environments are actually beneficial for the processor, making it more efficient with less power and less noise.

Q - Will particulate matter get stuck in the Dynamo due to lesser gravity?

A - There's enough gravity on this moon to cause rain to fall from the sky. The rain is double the size of Earth rain droplets and falls much slower, more like Earth snow flakes. There's frozen hydrocarbon sand so it does fall to the ground. The windmill should not contaminate quickly but if it did, it would shorten the life of the probe. It's more likely the particles are so tiny and hard frozen, they won't affect performance.

Q - Is there enough wind to turn the turbine?

A - If the wind is too slow, it will be a problem for the windmill to recharge several battery packs. However, the air is over twice as thick as the Earth's air, so it's likely it will have good wind for driving the rotor. Observations of changing clouds indicate the presence of wind too. For periods of no wind, the probe can rest and sleep and wake up periodically to look and see if the batteries have recharged.

Robot Explorer Log 1 the Chronicles

Interplanetary Exploratory Robot

ROBOT EXPLORER - THE CHRONICLES
EVERYONE KNOWS the Big Brain Electronic Machine is exploring outer space for some unknown reason. This exploration includes not only manned missions into Near Space, but has now expanded to robotic probes designed for trips to far away worlds located at the remote edge of the Solar System. 

We now have a directive from the Big Brain to design and construct an exploratory intelligent life form robot that can autonomously traverse strange new worlds in the quest for ultimate knowledge! 

This is a build of a different type of robot, with some intelligence, designed to mobility explore places in the outer reaches of the Solar System where no man has ever tread!

The places of interest have an atmosphere and can support protected life, provide water to drink, and can serve as a world to explore rich natural resources worth mega trillions and trillions of dollars.

We're talking about going to "Life Moons!" Life Moons are likely to contain developed alien life or life in the making, and encompass spectacular surrealistic vistas and moonscapes. They hold wealth and riches far beyond our Earthly imaginations!

Early design work and the robot proto begins to take shape. The explorer robot probe currently has designs for three power supplies. Initial parts are from a Parallax Boe-Bot kit. The BS2 board is removed and a replacement Propeller board will be installed. The initial prototype is designed to run from a breadboard. In this view, component and module placement tryouts are in effect. Many of the sensors are yet to be installed. The combined position is critical to the operation of the robot. The Propeller chip has 32 pins. In this design, all 32 pins are used up. If more GPIO are needed, another P8X32A-D40 will need to be added to the circuit.

The Advanced Explorer Robot will have autonomy, sensors to detect life and study the environment, and will map out the new world (actually creating maps and sending data back to home base by radio). It will carry its own life environment for survival. This mainly involves protection from cosmic rays during the journey, and a heated capsule to ensure component reliability in extreme temperatures. All parts for the interplanetary probe are off-the-shelf and commonly available. As always, the objective is the advanced prototype at lowest cost and highest technology.

PERSONAL LOG EARTH DATE WED. AUG. 21, 2013

It's hot and raining here today. This will be the most complicated and most expensive autonomous robot ever designed in the Humanoido Labs. It's for a reason - the little guy will trek to the farthest reaches of the solar system to embrace the unknown.

Today, I designed a heater for the robot, to keep it warm in -289 F. temp. I'm using a reserved power battery pack and electrical resistors calculated to emit the required amount of wattage heat to keep the electronics at their minimum operating temperatures. The processor will automatically turn the heater on and off according to a temperature analysis program.

To recharge the batteries, a small wind turbine, or windmill, will be used. This is because there is wind on this moon's surface and pretty much no direct sunlight. The planet's list of 20 moons are up to 1,037,690 miles from the Earth, so the sun looks like a tiny dot and all the hydrocarbons in the air make a very polluted foggy viewing from the surface. The actual sunlight never exceeds Earth twilight level.

Today, I'm raising the electronics package up on spacers for a third power supply to be located underneath - this will power the heater. So far, the robot explorer has 3 power supplies, one for the motors and sensors , one for the computer, and one for the heater. The heater has run through the numbers for six designs so far. Today, it was discovered that the approach with the 9-volt battery would fail, because it can deliver only a measly 0.55 Ah. So now the newer numbers will look at designs with a varied number of small 1.5 volt batteries.

Tiny Telescope for Near Space

Telescope photo showing the Moon

TINY TELESCOPE FOR NEAR SPACE FLIGHT
The next Near Space flight will carry a small telescope up into the fringes of space, and will be capable of imaging planned celestial objects during the day and night. The first time telescope will be equipped with a battery operated CCD camera imager capable of single integration color or black and white at ISO 28,000 or more.

NODAL POINTS

Short term integration

The initial tests will be unguided, i.e. accepting the motions of the spacecraft. We will study the best spacecraft orientations for particular telescopic data collecting and imaging with the greatest points of stability and least angular rotation and linear motion.

This will occur at nodal points established during the flight.

IMAGE STABILIZER
The telescope will include an Image Stabilizer to reduce imaging motion and produce more clear and less trailed images.

Solar imaging

PIXELS
With over 10 million pixels, the telescope can produce fine resolution shots.

CCD
This is an electronic telescope with a built in CCD Charge Coupled Device.
 
TIMED INTEGRATIONS
The telescope is equipped to do integrations of up to 15 seconds to capture faint objects and possible star fields during flight. Solar integrations can be as short as 1/1,600th of a second.

FOCAL LENGTH

Atmospheric effects

The small telescope is variable at f/2 to F/4.9 with a focal length from 28mm to 105mm. Part of the telescope is electronic, thus capable of FL modification.

MONITOR
A 3-inch color monitor is attached to the telescope for focus, framing and viewing in various modes.

Storage Media

STORAGE

Deep Sky M57 on storage

iPhone 5 support with Siri AI

Free iPhone app supplements telescope data

Image storing is available in the following formats: RAW 3648 x 2736, JPEG 3648 x 2736, JPEG 2816 x 2112, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 3648 x 2048, JPEG 2816 x 1584, JPEG 1920 x 1080, JPEG 640 x 360, JPEG 3648 x 2432, JPEG 2816 x 1880, JPEG 1600 x 1064, JPEG 640 x 424, JPEG 2736 x 2736, JPEG 2112 x 2112, JPEG 1200 x 1200, JPEG 480 x 480, JPEG 2192 x 2736, JPEG 1696 x 2112, JPEG 960 x 1200, JPEG 384 x 480.

M1 integration

HIGH TECH TELESCOPE
The high technology telescope supports HD recording and uses a folded lens design. This is specifically designed for Near Space flight and has low profile compacted folded dimensions of approximately 4-inches x 2 x  1. The folding design extends another one inch to the 1-inch dimension. It can do continuous auto timed repeated imaging at about 2 FPS running on Lithium Ion batteries. Images are saved to a multi media card which can be retrieved after the flight.

SUPPORT
Small telescopes can be supported with iPhone 5 functions, including the built in talk-to artificial intelligence SIRI when the sound environment is relatively quiet.

Sun Edge Reveal

JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE SUN!

GT TELESCOPE REVEAL

THE MASSIVE GT TELESCOPE is known for new science of discovery in the Universe. Pointing the telescope at a solar system object is always exciting because the reveal leads to greater understanding. 

In this spectacular discovery image reveal obtained with the GT Genius Telescope in stopped down 1.5-mile Level I Aperture Mode, the Sun's Edge is shown to contain thousands of sub flares erupting from the molten magma. The sun constantly contains and creates, at any one time, trillions of these bubbling changing eruptions. Hydrogen Alpha character selection filter wavelength band-pass selection employed with a singular Adjunctive and the Advanced Universe Penetrator AUP set to the first aperture level at 1.5-miles. The MMS Multi Mag Slider was 60 to 70% engaged and processing took place with the Big Brain Supercomputer at the Center for the GT Space Administration. In cooperation with the GT Space Administration, NASA, DSC Deep Space Center, Big Brain Supercomputer Project, and Humanoido.

Note: this is only the second publicly known published image taken by the GT Genius Telescope. The first image obtained by this mammoth telescope (Transit of Venus) is found here:
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/gt-telescope-venus-transit-first-light.html

For more information about the GT:
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/gt-genius-telescope.html