Monday, 5 September 2011

some questions ask by NASA


K-9 Rover Robot Development

These audio files and transcripts are related to K-9 rover robot development at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Audio files of interviews with three persons from NASA Ames are included -- Liam Pedersen, Project Manager, Navigation and Effector Control Project; Maria Bualat, Project Lead, K-9 Project; and David Smith, Group Lead, K-9 Planning and Scheduling Group.
All questions below are linked to broadcast quality as well as on-line audio files
  1. Liam Pedersen, Project Manager, Navigation and Effector Control Project
  2. Question One: What is the 2009 mission to Mars about? (21 SECONDS)
  3. Question Two: What is the biggest advantage of planetary rover robots? (30 SECONDS)
  4. Question Three: What are the two most important capabilities for rovers operating on Mars? (37 SECONDS)
  5. Question Four: What kind of data can K-9 collect? (18 SECONDS)
  6. Question Five: What is CHAMP? (35 SECONDS)
  7. Question Six: What is unique about the technology under development for K-9? (21 SECONDS)
Maria Bualat, Project Lead, K-9 Project
  1. Question One: What is an advantage of K-9 when compared to other robotic rovers? (9 SECONDS)
  2. Question Two: How would the time radio signals take to get to Mars from Earth affect operation of the robot? (18 SECONDS)
  3. Question Three: How will K-9 operate compared to other Mars rovers? (49 SECONDS)
David Smith, Group Lead, K-9 Planning and Scheduling Group.

The questions below are linked to broadcast quality as well as on-line audio files.
  1. Question One: What is a carbon nanotube? (22 SECONDS)
  2. Question Two: How might carbon nanotubes be used in the electronics industry? (1:35 MINUTES)
  3. Question Three: What are some of the challenges in computer chip manufacturing, as chips get smaller and more powerful over time? (1:31 MINUTES)
  4. Question Four: Can you make carbon nanotube interconnects smaller than copper interconnects in computer chips? (1:40 MINUTES)
  5. Question Five: What is the effect, if any, of carbon nanotubes on the speed of computer chips? (1:14 MINUTES)
  6. Question Six: Does your process to put carbon nanotubes in computer chips as interconnects dovetail with today’s manufacturing processes? (57 SECONDS)
  7. Question Seven: What are the three steps taken to put carbon nanotube interconnects in computer chips? (1:35 MINUTES)
  8. Question Eight: What do carbon nanotubes look like under the electron microscope? (2:11 MINUTES)
  9. Question Nine: How soon do you think your carbon nanotube process to make interconnects will be used in commercially available computer chips? (1:18 MINUTES)
  10. Question Ten: Why is NASA developing uses for carbon nanotubes?(2:11 MINUTES)
  11. Question Eleven: What is the next step after silicon computer chips? (1:03 MINUTES)
  12. Question Twelve: How did your team invent the process that includes using carbon nanotubes in silicon chips as 'interconnects?(1:00 MINUTE)
  1. Question One: How will K-9’s planning and scheduling system work? (16 SECONDS)
  2. Question Two: How would the time radio signals take to get to Mars from Earth affect operation of the robot? (18 SECONDS)
  3. Question Three: How will K-9 operate compared to other Mars rovers? (49 SECONDS)

The questions below are linked to broadcast quality as well as on-line audio files.
  1. Question One: How is a harmless form of E.coli used to make engineered proteins in your research? (18 SECONDS)
  2. Question Two: How do these harmless E.coli act like a factory? (18 SECONDS)
  3. Question Three: Why are you using a protein to make a template? (49 SECONDS)
  4. Question Four: What do you do with the protein template? (13 SECONDS)
  5. Question Five: What does the protein crystal look like? (14 SECONDS)
  6. Question Six: How did your team come up with the idea of using proteins to serve as templates? (1 MINUTE)
  7. Question Seven: How do you put quantum dots on the protein template? (37 SECONDS)
  8. Question Eight: What are three possible uses for ordered arrays that you can create? (37 SECONDS)
  9. Question Nine: How did you come up with the concept of how to use proteins to help make potentially useful arrays? (24 SECONDS)
  10. Question Ten: What are the initial goals of your research? (58 SECONDS)
  11. Question Eleven: How do you engineer the protein’s genetic code to make a new protein? (1:09 MINUTES)
  12. Question Twelve: How did you use an extremophile organism to help you make the special new protein? (1:01 MINUTES)
  13. Question Thirteen: What is the importance of your research with these proteins? (54 SECONDS)




NASA TESTING K9 ROVER IN GRANITE QUARRY FOR FUTURE MISSIONS


NASA scientists and engineers are testing new technologies using the K9 rover in a granite quarry near Watsonville, Calif., in preparation for future missions to Mars.

The demonstration will be conducted at Graniterock's A.R. Wilson Quarry Site in Aromas, Calif.  Scientists chose the quarry site for the field experiment and to test its autonomous operational capabilities in a remote, non-vegetated location.  Graniterock offered its 100-year-old quarry operation to NASA after Graniterock learned that the space agency was looking for a site to test the rover.

"We need to take the rover into the field, away from our own backyard, in order to test how robust our technologies are," said Maria Bualat, a computer engineer at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., who is the K9 rover project lead. "However, the Bay Area is a lush tropical paradise compared to Mars, so we needed to find a place that wasn't covered in vegetation.  Graniterock was kind enough to volunteer a portion of its quarry," she added.

"The goal of the K9 project is to integrate and demonstrate new robotic technologies that will enable NASA to meet the science goals of future Mars missions," said Bualat. Scientists hope to utilize new robotic technologies during NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission anticipated in 2009.

"The whole purpose of this research project is to ensure that this rover is as autonomous and reliable as possible.  Autonomous instrument placement capability is essential for future Mars exploration," said Dr. Liam Pedersen, principle investigator for the K9 rover instrument placement project.  "This is necessary to acquire samples, determine mineralogy, obtain microscopic images and other operations needed to understand the planet's geology and search for evidence of past life."

"The United States has gained so much from the space program over the years, and the plans to explore Mars by the end of the decade is another significant step in advancing America's lead in developing and applying advanced technologies," said Bruce W. Woolpert, Graniterock's president and CEO.

Developed jointly at NASA Ames and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., the K9 rover is a six-wheeled, solar-powered rover weighing 145 pounds (65 kg) that measures 63 inches (1.6 m) high.  The K9 rover is modeled after a rover named "FIDO" (Field Integrated Design and Operations) developed at JPL about five years ago.

Due to the limited intelligence of current planetary rovers, it takes three martian days to complete the process of directing a rover to a targeted rock and placing an instrument on the rock to begin scientific analysis of it.  Scientists at NASA Ames hope to be able to accomplish that objective in a single day, thereby increasing the efficiency of obtaining science data in future missions.

David Smith, a computer scientist at NASA Ames, leads the research group that is responsible for developing the rover's automated planning and scheduling software.  In previous missions, there has been very little automation of the planning and scheduling process for planetary rovers, according to Smith.

"What's unique about this software that is being developed at NASA Ames is that it generates contingency plans to provide an alternative that can be executed when things go wrong," Smith said.  "There is a great deal of uncertainty in operating a robotic system on Mars, so you need to be able to consider alternatives.  By having options available, you increase the science return."

"NASA near-term Mars missions have very ambitious science goals that will require high levels of autonomy onboard the robot," said Bualat.  "Our goal is to have a 'smart robot' that we can send off to Mars in 2009 that will take care of itself."

The K9 rover project's annual cost of approximately $1 million is funded jointly by the Intelligent Systems project under the Computing, Information and Communications Technology (CICT) program administered by NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology, and by the Mars Technology Program, administered by the Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington.

Graniterock was founded on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 1900.  The company has operations in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Seaside, Salinas, Gilroy, Hollister, Aromas, Felton, Oakland, San Jose, Redwood City and South San Francisco.  Graniterock Pavex Construction Division is a significant heavy engineering contractor building roadways, airport and private commercial and residential projects.  Graniterock has also been the recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Governor's Golden State Quality Award.

Reproduction quality images of the K9 rover (2002) are available at:

Reproduction quality images of the K9 rover at the granite quarry testing (2003) are available at:



NASA TESTING K9 ROVER IN NEW ÔMARSCAPEÕ FOR FUTURE MISSIONS

NASA scientists and engineers are testing new technologies using a K9 rover in a newly built ÔMarscapeÕ test facility in preparation for future missions to Mars.
Testing is being conducted at NASA Ames Research Center in CaliforniaÕs Silicon Valley in a 3/4-acre ÔMarscapeÕ that has been designed to resemble the terrain on Mars.  Constructed at a cost of about $74,000, the test facility incorporates the environmental and geological features of Mars that hold the greatest scientific interest. The Marscape features a dry lakebed and outflow channel, a meteorite impact crater, a volcanic zone containing a dry hydrothermal spring and an area that scientists describe as Òchaotic terrain.Ó

ÒThe goal of the K9 project is to integrate and demonstrate new robotic technologies that will enable NASA to meet the science goals of future Mars missions,Ó said Maria Bualat, a computer engineer at NASA Ames who is the K9 rover project lead.  Scientists hope to utilize new robotic technologies during NASAÕs Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission anticipated in 2009.
ÒThe whole purpose of this research project is to ensure that this rover is as autonomous and reliable as possible.  Autonomous instrument placement capability is essential for future Mars exploration,Ó said Dr. Liam Pedersen, principle investigator for the K9 rover instrument placement project.
Developed jointly at NASA Ames and NASAÕs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., the K9 rover is a six-wheeled, solar-powered rover weighing 145 pounds (65 kg) that measures 63 inches (1.6 m) high.  The K9 rover is modeled after a rover named ÒFIDOÓ (Field Integrated Design and Operations) developed at JPL about four years ago.
The roverÕs avionics, instrumentation, and its autonomy software were developed at NASA Ames.  The rover carries a variety of instruments on board, including a compass, an inertial measurement unit and three pairs of monochromatic cameras used for navigation and instrument placement. The rover also carries a pair of high-resolution, color stereo cameras and the CHAMP, an arm-mounted, focusable microscopic camera developed at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  The roverÕs stereo cameras create a 3-D virtual map of the exploration site that scientists use to help navigate the rover to its intended target.
ÒApproaching science targets such as rocks and placing instruments against them to take measurements is an essential task for a planetary surface exploration rover,Ó Pedersen explained.  ÒThis is necessary to acquire samples, determine mineralogy, obtain microscopic images and other operations needed to understand the planetÕs geology and search for evidence of past or present life.Ó
Due to MarsÕ distance from Earth, even with commands being transmitted at the speed of light, it currently takes three martian days to complete the process of directing a rover to a targeted rock and placing the instrument on the rock to begin scientific analysis of it.  Scientists at NASA Ames hope to be able to accomplish that objective in a single day, thereby increasing the efficiency of obtaining science data in future missions.
David Smith, a computer scientist at NASA Ames, leads the research group that is responsible for developing the roverÕs automated planning and scheduling software.  In previous missions, there has been very little automation of the planning and scheduling process for planetary rovers, according to Smith.
ÒWhatÕs unique about this software being developed at NASA Ames is that it generates contingency plans to provide an alternative that can be executed when things go wrong,Ó Smith said.  ÒThere is a great deal of uncertainty in operating a robotic system on Mars, so you need to be able to consider alternatives.  By having options available, you increase the science return.Ó
To increase the versatility of the software, scientists at NASA Ames, JPL and Carnegie Mellon University are developing a universal architecture for robotics software named CLARAty, funded by the Mars Technology Program, to develop robotics capabilities at NASA centers and universities for future missions.
ÒNASA near-term Mars missions have very ambitious science goals that will require high levels of autonomy onboard the robot,Ó said Bualat.  ÒOur goal is to have a Ôsmart robotÕ that we can send off to Mars in 2009 that will take care of itself.Ó
The K9 rover projectÕs annual cost of approximately $1 million is funded jointly by the Intelligent Systems Project under the Computing, Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Program administered by NASAÕs Office of Aerospace Technology, and by the Mars Technology Program, administered by the Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington.
Reproduction quality images of the K9 rover are available at:


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