Compass

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yFibpcJOPllLbA-vW0JJGsjFTqCf-yPc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117906126257195215323&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://www.compass2021.co/

On the surface

Deployment

All the probe components are packed to a Dock and the whole system can be carried by a human or a robot to a drilling site or a desired drilling location. (see figure 1) As this probe is able to work with or without human interaction a robot or human can place the dock and the drill will start its process.

First thing happening when the dock is on the planet/natural satellite or the asteroid will be deploying its Spikes to stay connected firmly to the ground with a firm grip. This and the shape of the dock will help stay on point after it's planted on the surface with winds/storms e.g. 

After the dock is stable on the surface the probe will start to descend into the planet/asteroid. 

Figure 1 - The Dock with the components inside

Dock/Dome of the probe

This is a half sphere-shaped object that houses the whole contraption in it (see figure 2) This houses all the main functions to assist the work of the probe. This dock will help the probe with getting the cut soil out to the surface, supply the power required to the probe, analyze the data collected by the probe, secure the drilling hole from the environment, set the path clear for the probe to return to the surface, transmit the data collected to a satellite or a rover. 

Figure 2 - The Cross-section of the Dock with all its components inside

(Probe in the middle, The Lifters on the top, Panel cartridges on the sides of the Probe)

Panels

Panels are stored in the dock in two cartridges. These help to send power and data to the dock and from the dock to the probe and from the probe. Not only that but also help to keep the drilled hole secure for the probe to return back to the surface once it reaches the destination. Panels contain two cables to send and receive data and those are embedded on the panels. When the Drilling is ongoing a component from the top of the dock will slide panels to the drilled hole.

Once the panel cartridges are empty it's required to fill the cartridge with new panels to continue the drilling. (see figure 3 and 4 of panels and panels slider)

Figure 3-A single Panel

Figure 4-The Panel Slider (in silver), Panel Cartridges (in the sides) and lifters(in red)

Lifters

These are two motors that will be needed to ascend and descend the probe and the container. These are located on the top of the dock and will have a weight sensor with them. These lifters will help carry the cut soil to the surface. They will be attached to the underside of the container by two cables and once the container is filled to the max capacity or the max weight, the lifters will pull up the container. 

Once the drilling is over the container will be attached to the probe and lifters will bring the probe and the container back to the surface. (see figure 4 )

The Probe

the Probe consist of 3 main parts (see figure 5)

1. Drill bit
2. Sensor body
3. Container

Figure 5-The whole Probe (the Drill Bit, The Body and the Container)

Figure 5.1-Cross Section of the whole Probe

Drill bit

The drill bit is a developed flat cutter head Diamond-titanium drill bit with a soil collection system inbuilt with its core. (see figure 6 & 6.1) .The whole drill bit will be 20cm long and will go through the whole probe. 

This drill bit will descend with its weight and the assistance of 4 outer punching wheels from the body while taking cut soil through its code to the container.

Figure 6-The Drill Bit

Figure 6.1-The cross-section of the Drill Bit

Sensor body

The Body of the probe will be 20cm long and will house the drill bit on it. The body consists of all the sensors which are needed to collect data from the soil while descending. When the Container is filled with soil and ascends to the surface the body will begin the process of collecting the data from the wall of the drilled hole. 

This will be the place also for the 4 wheels which can be pushed towards the wall and take some assistance for the drilling process. These wheels will help the drilling process and ascend to the surface when the work is done. 

At the opposite end of the drill bit there will be attachment locks for the container. The container will attach to the body and get soil from the core spiral. When the container is attached to the body the whole probe can be sent to the surface with the help of the lifters. 

Container

The container is attached to the body with detachable locks. The container is 10cm long when it's in its simple form and ready to be filled. When the container is fully filled it will be 100cm long. The container will evolve to the long-form when it's filled for the first time and it will stay that way for the whole journey.

The container is attached to the lifters directly from the bottom of the container and they will decide when this is coming to the surface. When this is filled and, on the surface, the lifters will continue pulling the tethers and the bottom will be pushed up and this will push the soil from the top to the surface. 

When the probe is at its destination the container will attach to the body and the lifters will pull the whole probe along with the container. (See figure 7 & 7.1)

Figure 7-A cross-section of the container ( simple form on the left large form on the right)

Figure 7.1-The Container( simple form on the left large form on the right)

The Big Picture

The Probe will start drilling to the set destination with its flat cutter head. The dock will align the probe with its path for the start, the probe will continue the drilling on the path correctly by adjusting itself using the gravity and the helper wheels attached to the body. Currently, we assume that this probe will be able to drill to at least 100m from the surface. 

When the Drilling is ongoing there are 3 other things happening real-time with the probe and the dock. those are,

1. Sending the cut soil to the container
2. Pushing the panels from the dock to the drilled path.
3. Sending collected data through the panels to the dock.

Drilling will continue until the container is at its full capacity or at its max weight for the lifters. Drilling will pause until the container returns. This paused time is used by the sensors to get data from the drilled path through the body. The data collected by the sensors will be sent to the dock through the panels and data will be processed to information up at the surface.

When the drilling is ongoing the dock will push panels to the drilled hole keeping a set distance between the panel bottom and the probe body. This gap will be needed for the sensors to collect data, but the probe will be connected to the panels at all times it can. If the probe and the panels are not connected the battery on the probe will be used to power the probe and data collected will be stored until it is connected to the panel again. 

When the panels are empty on the dock, a robot arm or a human is required to fill the panel cartridges with panels again to start the process. If the panels are not in the cartridges the probe will stop on the location and wait until the panels are back on the cartridge. 

The soil drilled through the drill bit is sent to the container from the spiral path in the core of the drill bit. The soil will enter the container from the bottom. The container is folded in the beginning and it will grow when the soil is coming. When the container is filled to its maximum capacity or the lifters located at the top of the dock senses that it is on it’s max weight to carry to the top, the container will detach from the probe and start ascending to the top with the help of the lifters.

When the container is on the dock, the lifters will start again to lift the bottom of the container, spilling the soil on the container from the top of the dock to the surface. When the container is empty the bottom will attach to the container cover and start descending to the probe and connect with its body. But the container will not return back to its simple folded form again until it is removed from the probe. This process will continue until the probe reaches its set destination.

When the probe is done drilling and collecting the data, the probe will attach with the container and the lifters will pull the whole probe with the container to the surface. The panels will remain in the drilled hole. When the probe is on the dock with the container, the probe is ready to dig again in another location. If humans are present at the location they can place the whole dock at a different location or a robot can place the dock in a different place to start drilling again.

You can find out a detailed guide of our project here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EvxNagB2Pa8TuAylhXvlMwrI2U31Zc16/view?usp=sharing.

The inspiration for this project was the InSight Lander mole. We studied it and decided to upgrade it to work better as a drilling probe. We were not only considering the Martian soil but the surface of any planet/asteroid or a natural satellite. 

Material links:

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8836/nasa-insights-mole-ends-its-journey-on-mars/?site=insight

https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-calls-halt-to-attempts-by-insight-mole-to-dig-into-mars/#:~:text=The%20mission%20team%20used%20the,via%20NASA%2F%20JPL%2DCaltech.

https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/tools-astronauts-will-use-to-explore-distant-worlds/

As the event unfolded we choose this challenge because it was challenging and was giving an opportunity to fill a gap in the planetary exploration side. As for our knowledge, we gathered data from existing drilling and geology-related tools to develop our project. We researched planetary surfaces and many things related to drilling when developing this project to make sure our solution is up to date and effective than currently using tools. We combined functions of many existing tools and developed new tools as well. We learned many things about planetary surfaces and soil in outer space while developing this project.

We had the opportunity to unveil this technology that will be used in the future because of this competition which will really give us a chance to surpass our intelligence levels

Softwares and tools used by us-

Solid Works

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe premiere pro

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe after effects

Google sites,

Vectory

Panzoid

Blender 

http://tomatosphere.letstalkscience.ca/Resources/library/ArticleId/5302/soil-on-mars.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_soil#:~:text=Martian%20soil%20is%20the%20fine,the%20finer%20fraction%20of%20regolith.

https://www.vectary.com/

https://panzoid.com/

#vitual_planetary_exploration #armadrillo #compass #hardware #drilling_probe

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.