Tag: Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover robotic arm

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover News

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Robotic Arm Starts Missions

The science instruments WASTON on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Robotic Arm have worked together with MasterCam-Z and SuperCam to learn more about Martian rocks. From the information provided by these cameras, scientists can learn if there was ever life or how the rocks were formed. We are currently building a 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, which perfectly replicates the appearance structure of the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, including the Robotic Arm, WASTON, MasterCam-Z, and Super Cam. Users can remotely control the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica to simulate the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s operation.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Robotic Arm plays a very important role when it comes to studying rocks. In order to remove new dust from the surface and expose the inside of the rocks, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Robotic Arm needs to move close to the spot of interest and then control its abrading corer to scrape off the surface. Once that’s done, the scientists will decide if that is a valuable site by carefully studying the images transmitted by PIXL and SHERLOC. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Robotic Arm has not started to drill corers yet because scientists are still deciding which rocks are worthy candidates. The PIXL and SHERLOC will also be perfectly replicated on our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica.

Studying the rocks is how we can learn about Mars. Therefore, the more types of rocks the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover discovers, the better we get to know about Mars, and the more we will be ready for human exploration on Mars. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will also have the sample tubes replica, and users can put rocks, sands, or dirt into them. Not only can it be an ultra-realistic collection, but also a great teaching tool. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, please check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Adaptive Caching Assembly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 1

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly is one of the three main components of the sample caching system. The other two main components are the robotic arm and the turret assembly, which are introduced in more detail in [Robotic Arm the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover] and [Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover].

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly is located inside of the rover and on the front of the body. There are mainly 6 sub-assemblies of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly: the sample tube storage assembly, the sample handling arm, the dispenser, volume, tube assembly, the vision station, the sealing station, and the bit carousel. For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, we will replicate the part on the front of the body, and we will try our best to perfectly replicate the part that is inside of the rover’s body.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sample tube storage assembly is for storing both empty sample tubes and filled sample tubes. Although they are placed together, there are sheaths to protect them from contaminating each other. There are a total of 39 sample tubes in the sample tube storage assembly.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sample handling arm is for transferring the sample tubes to different stations in the adaptive caching assembly or for moving the sample tubes to the bit carousel so that the sample tubes are inserted into the drill bits for sample caching purposes.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s dispenser, volume, tube assembly is to calculate the number of samples collected and to reduce possible contamination. There are 3 sample tubes in the dispenser, volume, tube assembly. There are 7 seal dispensers, and each seal dispenser has 7 seals, so there are 49 seals in total, 7 of which are spares.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s vision station not only takes photos of the sample cached but also performs a second-time calculation for the amount of each sample collected.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sealing station is to seal a sample permanently by triggering seals in the sample tubes.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s bit carousel is to keep all the drill bits and helps to insert a sample tube into a drill bit for sample caching.

For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, we will try our best to perfectly replicate these 6 sub-assemblies. Although they will not have the same functions as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly, they will be fully motorized and you can simulate the sample handling movement with the remote control.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Robotic Arm the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is located on the front of the rover’s chassis. It has a length of 7 feet or 2.1 meters, which is the same length as its predecessor, the Curiosity rover.  Our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm has a length of 3.5 feet or 1.05 meters. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm wields a rotating 45kg (or 99 lbs) turret assembly, which is 15kg (or 34 lbs) heavier than the Curiosity rover’s turret assembly because it carries bigger science instruments and a bigger corer for drilling compared to the Curiosity rover. The weight of our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will not be that heavy, because the instruments on it will only be decorations (but ultra-realistic decorations), and the material we use will be lightweight.

The purpose of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is to help with exploring the Martian surface and collecting valuable Martian samples. It mimics the human arm – it has joints at its “shoulder”, “elbow” and “wrist” for maximum degrees of freedom. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have as many degrees of freedom as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm. If the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is a human scientist, then the robotic arm is his human arm. At the end of the robotic arm, there is a turret assembly or a hand, and on the hand, there are the science instruments (SHERLOC, WASTON, PIXL), the gDRT, the Corer, and the ground contact sensor which are for Martian rock and soil sample caching. The gDRT and the ground contact sensor are introduced in [Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Mars Rover].

There are some small motors or rotary actuators on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm, and with these actuators, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm has 5 degrees of freedom or 5 flexible joints: the shoulder azimuth joint, the shoulder elevation joint, the elbow joint, the wrist joint and the turret joint. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have these motors – not the same type or the same size, but the function of the motors is the same –  so that the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm is also 5 degree of freedom. The flexibility of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm allows it to rotate the turret accurately to a location of interest so that the corer can start its initial abrading operation for the later sampling process, or for the science instruments analyzing process.

After the science team on Earth decides which rocks or regolith to sample, Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will give the robotic arm the “go” for sample caching. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will rotate the corer to an angle that is best for the drill bit to operate. Depending on the condition of the drilling site, the drill will choose the rotary mode or the percussive mode for the sample caching. After the sample rocks or regolith are collected, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will transfer the sample tubes to the bit carousel for the later processes. Although the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm doesn’t have the function like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, users can control the Mars Rover Replica to drive and mimic the movement of the robotic arm.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret is located at the end of the 2.1-meter-long, 5-degree-freedom robotic arm. It carries the science instruments SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL to help with the sample handling process. Besides the three instruments, there are also the gDRT(Gaseous Dust Removal Tool) and the Corer. The Corer is positioned in the middle of the instruments. SHERLOC and WASTON are by one side of the Corer, while gDRT and PIXL are on the opposite side of the Corer. Collectively, they form the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret assembly. Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the structure appearance of the Turret including the SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL instruments, the gDRT, and the Corer. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s SHERLOC, WATSON, and PIXL instruments are introduced in more detail in [PIXL of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Part 1], [PIXL of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Part 2], [SHERLOC of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover], and [WATSON of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover]. With these scientific instruments the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret carries, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is able to analyze the minerals and chemicals to study whether or not there was life or if it will be possible for humans to live on Mars by carefully and scientifically selecting the most valuable rock and soil samples to collect. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s PIXL and the tools on it won’t have the functions as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, but the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s PIXL replica will stimulate the movement when operating.  

After the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm accurately transports the turret assembly to the location of interest, depending on what this specific mission’s purpose is, the corer will get one of the bits and will do an initial abrading operation. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret then will rotate and find a position for gDRT to remove dust from the surface to prevent contamination preparing for the sample caching process. The gDRT is a sophisticated tool that consists of the following 7 components:

1. A supply tank with 159g of gaseous Nitrogen

2. A gas tank, or plenum tank which fills gas before every operation

3. Two supplementary supply valves for transferring gas from the supply tank to the plenum tank

4. A valve that releases the plenum tank’s gas

5. A nozzle that will blow the gas to the target surface

6. A valve that acts as the supply tank’s switch for releasing and loading gas before launch

7. A pressure transducer for the pressure reading

In the end, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret will rotate to positions to allow SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL to work.

Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the gDRT down to very fine details, but it will not have the dust-removing function or the many components. 

Other than the mentioned tools, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret assembly carries a sensor, the Ground Contact Sensor. The Ground Contact Sensor’s job is to prevent the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret from accidentally touching the ground by giving the robotic arm signals to stop if the turret gets too close to the ground. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of Ground Contact Sensor but it will not actually be a sensor.