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.