Reader Response (Astrobee) - Draft 4 (Updated Final)
In the article, “Astrobee Will Find Astronauts’ Lost Socks”, Ackerman (2021) wrote about the purpose of the Astrobee, which are robots built to potentially assist in maintaining the Gateway. The Gateway is a space station intended to be a “transit point” for astronauts bound for the Moon and potentially Mars, and is expected to be empty most of the time. The purpose of the Astrobee is to maintain the space station as part of “NASA’s Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking project” (ISAAC). ISAAC combines the “autonomous systems onboard space stations” with the “mobile autonomous or semi-autonomous robots” to respond to and solve any issues requiring “physical intervention”. According to Ackerman (2021), testing has shown that the Astrobee is capable of proficient way-finding, foreign object detection and sending alerts to aid in the removal of foreign objects. It is capable of surveying its surroundings to create a “high-resolution multi-sensor 3d map”. It is also able to free itself when trapped, and able to manage during “simulated space-to-ground communication interruptions.” As the Astrobee is not intended to handle objects, it will have to operate with external help, which potentially includes the Robonaut 2 and GITAI’s arm. Ackerman (2021) also reported that the overall plan for ISAAC is to allow for “increased robotic autonomy”, which will allow robots to potentially “be the ones doing the literal, and metaphorical, heavy lifting”, especially when space exploration reaches Mars.
It can therefore be said that the integration of the Astrobee with ISAAC will help astronauts stay safer in space by assisting with activities, providing a platform for further research about robotics in space, and allowing for the robots’ surveillance features to be used in various ways, despite the current battery life constraints.
According to Kanis (2022), the Astrobee is actually a system of three separate cubic-shaped robots, aptly named “Honey, Queen, and Bumble”. The robots run on battery power and need to recharge at their designated docking station when required. They are rather small when compared to the Robonaut 2 as they are only 12.5 inches wide, with “perching arms” that allow them to help with tasks and grab onto rails to save battery power. They are also equipped with cameras and sensors, and use fans to propel themselves around their environment. Chen (2019) reports that the Astrobee “builds upon technology and lessons learned from the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite system” (SPHERES), and will be replacing SPHERES once “fully commissioned”.
One of the features of the Astrobee robots is the ability to conduct tasks on their own. Kanis (2022) stated that the Astrobee robots will be able to take over regular chores to help free up time for astronauts to work on issues requiring human intervention. According to Figliozzi (2019), the robots are able to share information with one another because of their similar systems. This gives them the ability to work together and alone, increasing their efficiency when working on tasks and taking care of an unmanned space station.
The Astrobee robots are also a platform for further research to be conducted in space. Kanis (2022) also mentioned that as the Astrobee robots “are modular and can be upgraded”, they have the potential to be used to perform many different kinds of tests within the station. The potential ability of the Astrobee to be a viable research platform will surely pave the way for even better robotics in space.
The surveillance features of the Astrobee also allow for astronauts to monitor the space station that they are deployed in, without requiring the astronauts to be near the robots. This will be helpful when there are situations where the status of the different modules of the station cannot be verified safely, as the Astrobee should be able to navigate their way to the location to survey the area and transmit information to the astronauts. Additionally, their ability to be both autonomous and controlled by astronauts allows them to be utilised for different situations.
However, one drawback of the Astrobee is the battery capacity of the robots. As the size of the Astrobee is small, their battery capacity is also affected. According to Mian (2018), although one potential solution for a small battery capacity is to replace the battery with one of larger capacity or of better efficiency, increasing the capacity of the battery would mean increasing the weight. As the Astrobee can be classed as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it can be said that the “weight and size” of the Astrobee will be “a critical factor that affects performance”. When there is “more weight added to a system” which can happen when a battery of larger capacity is used, the Astrobee will need “more power” to operate. According to Mian (2018), this will ultimately affect the feasibility of increasing the capacity of the battery, when “ the increased mass of the vehicle outweighs the power benefits”. Therefore, changing the battery of the Astrobee is not a viable long term solution. It can also be concluded that, if the Astrobee cannot return to their docking stations (i.e. if the robots are stuck in another module of the space station, or if the docking station is malfunctioning), they will eventually run out of battery.
According to Bualat et al. (2018), there were some problems in the past when attempting to locate a permanent location for the first docking station due to the space constraints on board the space station. Thus, although the issue of the battery capacity can potentially be solved by including more docking stations on the space station, finding suitable locations may prove to be a challenge.
In conclusion, the Astrobee is an essential addition to assist astronauts with the ability to be upgraded even further. The potential of the Astrobee will increase the safety of the astronauts in space, both by assisting them with activities, furthering inventions related to the robots, and by allowing for remote surveillance, in spite of the current battery constraints.
References:
Ackerman, E. (2021). Astrobee Will Find Astronauts’ Lost Socks. IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/astrobee-nasa-gateway
Bualat, M.G., Smith, T., Fong, T.W., Smith, E.E, Wheeler, D.W. (2018). Astrobee: A New Tool for ISS Operations. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180003326/downloads/20180003326.pdf
Chen, R. (2019). NASA’s New Flying Robots: Bee-ing in Space for the First Time. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-s-new-flying-robots-bee-ing-in-space-for-the-first-time
Figliozzi, G. (2019). Hi Honey! NASA’s Second Astrobee Wakes Up in Space. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ames/hi-honey-nasa-s-second-astrobee-wakes-up-in-space
Kanis, S. (2022). What is Astrobee?. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Mian, S. (2018). A novel battery management & charging solution for autonomous UAV systems (Publication No.: 10790304) [Master’s thesis, Arizona State University]. Arizona State University KEEP. https://keep.lib.asu.edu/_flysystem/fedora/c7/194901/Mian_asu_0010N_17663.pdf
Thanks very revising this, Valerie.
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