Award Data

Busek, in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU), proposes to develop a robotic resource prospecting mission to a near-Earth asteroid using a 6U CubeSat, nicknamed "AstroCube". This ambitious mission is enabled by Busek's iodine-fueled BIT-3 RF ion propulsion system that can deliver ~1mN of thrust and ~2200sec of total Isp with 65W nominal input power. With 1.6kg of solid iodine propell ...

The gas sensor in the PLSS of the ISS EMU will meet its projected life in 2020, and NASA is planning to replace it. At present, only high TRL devices based on infrared absorption are candidate replacements, because of their proven long-term stability, despite their size and power consumption and failures in the presence of liquid water. No current compact sensor has the tolerance for liquid water ...

We propose that the key to robotic automation in unstructured environments is compliant robotic manipulators that can tolerate, sense, and leverage contact in a feedback loop. We will demonstrate an instrumented end-effector that will be capable of enhanced perception through observed and controlled contact. This approach requires: (i) a network of sensors capable of capturing the highly compliant ...