Broxtronix

Hello robot fans! (I know you’re out there…) The latest update to the gallery comes [almost] live from NASA’s Desert Rats who were carrying out a joint robotic field test at Meteor Crater during the last two weeks. Robots from several NASA centers were in attendence, including Robonaut and Scout from JSC, ATHLETE from JPL, and our very own K-10 from Ames. The robots were interacting with humans in pressurized astronaut suits in a mock lunar exploration scenario that went something like this:

The astronauts drive up on Scout at the end of an EVA and they hop (laboriously) into the habitat (on top of ATHLETE) to recharge their oxygen and batteries for their next trip outside. Meanwhile, Robonaut and K-10 service Scout — Robonaut autonomously removes a sample container and K-10 drives around and inspects scout by taking several high dynamic range panoramas. The test was almost entirely autonomous — the robots were on their own after the robot operator hit “go”. For our part, K-10 planned its own path around Scout while identifying and avoiding obstacles using its forward and aft looking stereo cameras.

Although we spent much of our time preparing for and practicing this scenario, there was plenty of free time to run other tests and improve the infrastructure for running the rover. Hans improved the K-10 controller software, making it possible to suspend the work plan and temporarily assume remote control if things were to go wrong. Eric managed to adapt some old code he had sitting around so that we could plug a USB joystick into K-10 and use it to drive K-10 around. We also managed to set up some impressive 3-D visualizations of telemetry from K-10, and this attracted lots of attention and questions from the other teams. We became particularly good friends with the JSC folks who had graciously given us space in their command trailer. They were very open about the inner workings of their own hardware and software systems, and we had many good discussions about vision software, Corba interfaces, GPS hardware, etc. that will hopefully lead to more cooperation and tighter integration in future field tests.

Finally, it was great to visit Arizona during monsoon season (admittedly not the best Robot weather, but we managed). There were spectacular thunderstorms every afternoon, and this led to picturesque sunsets with amazing sunbeams shining through the clouds. The final verdict on field tests? Highly recommended!

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Two weekends ago Lindsay and I hiked in the Emigrant Wilderness; a region full of granite mountains and isolated lakes. The organizer of the trip was my friend Bruce (a.k.a. MohoDisco) from Ames. We joined him, his wife, and several of his friends for a labor day weekend trek to Leopold lake: one of the more isolated lakes in the wilderness far away from the trails than other lakes in this area (and therefore less popular). The first part of the hike was relatively easy going through hills and valleys, however the last 1.5 miles to the lake was an off-trail scramble up an 800ft. bluff and along a granite ridge. It was a rough climb and our resolve was waning, but Bruce pushed us along and we finally reached the lake as the sun was going down. Naturally, once we had finished complaining about being hungry and tired, the extra effort was worthwhile. We spent the entire next day lounging around and exploring the lake.

I would call the Emigrant Wilderness a high alpine desert. Vegetation was sparse and delicate due to the lack of regular rainfall and good soil. The granite landscape was dotted periodically with isolated mountain lakes where snowmelt had collected, but most had no stream water running into or out of them. I saw very few insects, plants, and animals living in and around the lakes, presumably because the lakes are a mostly closed ecosystem. Despite this, several forays around the lake turned up tadpoles, a water snake, a garden snake, dragonflies , bumblebees, and numerous wildflowers. As you can probably tell, I had fun playing with the newest lens for my camera, a 105mm macro.

This week I’m on travel in in Flagstaff, AZ for a robotic field test at Meteor Crater. We’re testing our robots along with robots from other NASA centers. It’s been a blast so far — there are some pretty nifty robots out here including Robotnaut and Scout, plus some human spaceflight people who are testing new concepts for astronaut suits. I’ll be posting pictures from the field in the next day or so, so stay tuned for another update.

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