little over a second. Te 1-ton Rover would weigh in there at about 332 lb (149 kg). Te advantage of robots on the Moon is their ability to liſt greater loads. On the Moon a robot with a 200-lb (90-kg) liſt capacity can liſt and position an object that would weigh 1200 lb (540 kg) on earth but which on the Moon weighs only 200 lb. Tis means lighter weight robots could be dispatched to perform assembly operations while minimizing the number of trips to meet the vehicle assembly, mining, and construction requirements. Te advancement of autonomous vehicle soſtware and


the short earth-to-moon communication time enable a robot that could be positioned, set up, and operating upon arrival on the lunar surface. Lightweight, rapidly deployable enclo- sures could be sent with the lunar-robots to provide thermal, environmental (dust), and radiation protection for the vehicle components and subassemblies as they arrive on-station. Te robots would anchor, seal, and validate the enclosures while adding the facility requirements necessary for a fully function- ing automated assembly plant. Rapidly deployable structures would be sent later as the time approached for human arrival and the mining and conversion operations met water and fuel needs for sustaining life. Lightweight composite fuel and water storage tanks could


be sent aſter or ahead of the lunar robots for positioning and assembly into a fuel/water processing and storage facility. Te mining, processing, and storage operation would be the re- sponsibility of limited-task robots controlled by a hierarchy of robots coordinated through a central command center where the human population would eventually arrive. Stationary or semi-stationary limited purpose robots would populate an enclosed lunar factory and a bio-center where plants would be grown for food. Higher-order autonomous and semi-auton- omous robots would travel between operating environments for maintenance, observation, and communication to facilitate a broad-based architecture of functioning robots to manage the master build schedule of the Lunar Based Mars Vehicle Assembly and Exploration Center.


Assembly Begins Within the assembly center, transport robots (AGVs)


would retrieve arriving Mars vehicle components and deliver them to the assembly floor where quality validation robots would inspect the arriving subassemblies and components for shipping damage while simultaneously sending images to earth for further subassembly evaluation. Damaged parts could be evaluated and corrective action and repair performed by robots directed by human specialists on earth. Once each subassembly had been joined with its mat-


ing structure, test and evaluation robots validate form, fit, function, and continuity of the systems before next assembly. When the engines are delivered for the Mars vehicle, robots would transport them to a test facility to run a trial “burn” to


validate their conformance to specified performance before vehicle integration. Humans could be transported to the lunar surface upon


completion of the vehicle assembly, integration, and testing and habitation enclosures, water, and fuel processing and stor- age. Once they arrive they would begin acclimation and final preparation for their long journey to Mars. Any anomalies found during on-site human inspection


could be corrected by robotic assistance. Robotic design would incorporate structural components that would trans- form former task-driven roving robots into Segway human transport vehicles to speed movement through tunnels con- necting buildings. Building an automated assembly plant on the Moon and


mining the necessary resources to fuel the vehicle and hydrate astronauts traveling to the Moon and then onto Mars is an enormously complex subject. When presenting the depth and breadth of its concepts and execution they exceed the frame- work of this medium. Te general concept described in this article was to provide select options to build and assemble an inhabited Mars exploration vehicle on the Moon with automa- tion. Te far-reaching potential of automated lunar assembly to enhance the success for human Mars exploration is appar- ent when considering the enormity of the mission. Autonomous vehicles and robots are operating all around


us. A US Navy Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) called NUCAS took off and landed on a carrier deck and a Global Hawk UAV refueled another Global Hawk. While singular examples exist of autonomous vehicles operating singularly or occasionally in pairs, the challenge is to get batches of UAVs and other autonomous type vehicles to operate harmo- niously as integrated collectives. Tis challenge is the focus of vigorous research activity and is referred to in air vehicles as flocking. Te term flocking refers to birds and their ability to act severally and yet harmoniously for the greater good of the flock. Preprogrammed robots operate in factories worldwide and


are most visible and recognized in the auto and electronics in- dustries. Clusters of rapidly moving robots position and fasten parts together by various means. Te motion of the collections of robots within the workcells are so closely synchronized that it appears that they are in communication with one another. At a recent automation conference there was much discus-


sion regarding the need to integrate robots so they could com- municate and vary their preprogrammed routines to operate based on feedback from their fellow robots. Tis optimality process through autonomous interactive robotic action has taken on “legs” and is known as advanced analytics for action- able machine intelligence. Te movement towards actionable machine intelligence when combined with flocking capability for autonomous vehicles provides the critical keystone for a foundation to support a lunar automated assembly factory.✈


Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing 2014 113


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