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Hybrid rover prototype 2 completed

SELENE — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:18:04 -0800

The hybrid rover prototype 2 is completed and ready for outdoor tests and launches. We gave the rover the name RLR - short form for Rocket Launching Robot. See the rover also at Let's Make Robots!

Never stop discovering

SELENE — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:04:17 -0800

We need tardigrades for our weather ballon experiment, but this species seems to be rare in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing. There might be a correlation to the environmental pollution - tardigrades can withstand extreme temperature, pressure, radiation and dehydration, but they are sensitive to environmental toxins, especially sulfur trioxide.

A German fellow-countryman, who is working at Siemens in China and got interested in our project, was back in Germany and sent us a few plastic bags with dried moss (the usual residence of water bears) from Munich and Wolfenbüttel. And lo and behold we could observe the first water bears under the microscope here in Shanghai.

Furthermore two students, who studying physics on the Univeristy of North Carolina, will probably touch down coming summer in China and working with us on our experiment.

Not forgetting the visit of John, a doctorand at NASA, his wife and Leo, an engineering student of the University of Cambridge, last year in the largest city in China and the world :)

This is what the Google Lunar X Prize actually does - it connecting people in the whole world with a keen interest in space exploration. I am very thankful for this. Keep on trying! Good luck for all teams.

Hybrid rover 2 indoor test

SELENE — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:10:27 -0800

Here is the first video of the second hybrid rover prototype - obstacle avoidance and ignition system tests:

We decided to add bump sensors on the robot:

IR and lasers have blind spots with no coverage. And even Soviet Mars walking robot PrOP-M had bump sensors:

Space microscope test

SELENE — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:28:11 -0800

Test of the the space microscope with slipper animalcule:

The hybrid rover got...

SELENE — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:14:35 -0800

The hybrid rover prototype 2 got...

motors & wheels...

a Sharp distance sensor...

and its rear wheel resp. rear ball...

The program for the robot is already written; as soon as the launch pad of the rover is finished, a test video will follow.

The progress of the rover can also be checked out at Let's Make Robots!, a nice web site with many great ideas and robots.

Pre-assembled hybrid rover prototype 2

SELENE — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:25:46 -0800

Some pictures of the pre-assembled hybrid rover prototype 2:

Hybrid rover prototype 2

SELENE — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:29:38 -0800

The second prototype of the hybrid rover is in progress:

The rover is now controlled by a 28-pin microcontroller from PICAXE, programmed in BASIC. The image above shows the PICAXE project board, the voltage regulator board, the control panel, the power dual h-bridge and the 27 MHz-receiver.

The nose cone of the rocket will be equipped with a 27 MHz-transmitter, to transmit data from the rocket to the rover. Again reverse engineering has been used. The 27 MHz-transmitter/receiver is from a toy RC car. The transmitter was rebuilt space saving on a perfboard, modified to run with a lower voltage and additional equipped with a bright flashing LED to indicate the trajectory visual better:

On the servo will be a Sharp distance sensor and a directional antenna mounted, so it's possible that the rover not only launch the rocket automatically but also track back then the landing site of the rocket. Yes, comfortable time has started at model rocketry ;-)

The two front wheels of the rover also have been manufactured:

Space microscope for weather ballon experiment finished

SELENE — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:37:28 -0800

The space microscope, which will be launched with a 2 m-diameter hydrogen weather ballon, has been built:

The microscope weighs 280 g. 1.2 kg remain for the video transmitter and power supply.

Here is a snap shot of condensed water in the slide chamber. As soon as our mini astronauts are successfully grown, a video will follow.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hybrid Rover Test Run

SELENE — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:33:52 -0800

Here is a video from the first test run of the hybrid rover prototype:

Our rover also attracted some cats like FREDNET's pico rover:-)

The recovery system of the rocket was not very sucessful. The nose cone came down with the parachute, the rest got separated in the sky and fell in a river.

Space microscope - pump system

SELENE — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:52:23 -0800

The manufacturing of the space microscope pump system, which will be launched with a weather ballon, is finished and works well.
Weight: 74 g
Voltage: 5 V
Max. current 60 mA
Next part will be the slide chamber.