Tele Sampling System and Design of Dual Ultrasonic Driven Manipulators for Lunar Surface Exploration Rover: Micro-6

In this paper, we discuss about dual manipulators mounted on Micro6 which is newly developed exploration rover with novel HEXSUS suspension. Especially, its system design and image processing with telesampling strategies are discussed, and those availabilities are indicated. In the system design of manipulators, we have proposed the use of a ultrasonic motor (USM) as an actuator on each joint. Because its large static torque behaves as the clutch, manipulator can keep its posture without any control and energy supply. Manipulator can be controlled by drivers of the less number of its joints with the time shared control of each joint and the maximum electrical power consumption can be decreasing. In image processing, the improvement of stereo image processing is discussed to keep its reliability and robustness. The system is based on the concept of data-fusion, and two more image processes are going in parallel with all, during conventional stereo vision. In those processes, shadow is projected to the measured object by a manipulator. An image with shadow is taken and processed by conventional method with Shadow Range Finder (SRF) and Shadow-projected Stereo Imaging (SSI). Those results are compared to each other, and integrated into the measurement space. Finally, proposed methods are installed on Micro 6, and its feasibility tests at indoortest field are indicated and evaluated by experimental results.