Mission 2004: LMRs Little Martian Robots

The LMRs' Role

Introduction
Astronaut Limitations
The Big Picture
LMR Advantages
In-field LMR Control
Habitat LMR Control
Problem 1: Complication
Subsequent Problems
LMR Families
LMR Chain of Command
Navigation
Communications
LMR Overdependency
Beyond Mission 2004
A Design Note

LMR Design
Systems Outline

LMR Design Tree

Small

Small LMRs could play a potentially large role in Mission 2004. Their small size and low weight would allow for the transpotation of multiple small LMRs to Mars and across the surface using ht ehuman run rover. The primary benefits of small LMRs stem from this fact. With many intelligent sensors covering the Martian terrain, it will be possible to cover huge surface areas with relative efficiency. The smal LMRs would be capable of working together and seperately to cover as much terrain as possible.
Beyond these benefits, there are certain qualities of small LMRs that would make them invaluable on Mision 2004. Being small, these LMRs could fit into small caves or canyons. The could go between rocks and underneath ledges with more ease than larger LMRs and could, conceivably, travel into cramped spaces that humans can't reach.

The term "small" is, admittedly, qualitiative and imprecise. How small is "small"? What are the upper and lower bounds of what would be considered small? For mission 2004. "Small" LMRs are considred LMRs of any size smaller than, or equivalent to, the Sojourner Rover used on the Mars Pathfinder Mission. The primary limiting factors of small LMRs, however, are:

Stability: Small LMRs would be less capable of standing against strong dust and wind storms. Also, as the LMRs are made smaller, their external surroudings are effectively made larger. In a sense, small bumps become larger bumps, and terrain negotiation becomes an increasingly more difficult issue for the LMRs.

Power: As the LMRs are made smaller their solar panels are made smaller. This greatly decreases the power output of the LMRs.

Capacity: Overly small LMRs will be incapable of carrying useful sensor systems and cameras.

Clearly the size of the small LMRs plays a critical role in determining their usefulness. A Sojourner-sized LMR would be capable of carrying the necessary sensors for Mission 2004, and would be capable of generating sufficient solar power to communicate, traverse terrain, and process its sensor data.

0-5 Small

Sending 0-5 small LMRs to Mars would be inexpensive and fairly easy to do. They would take up very little space and could be easily moved around the Martian surface. The idea behind the small LMRs, however, is to have a set of autonomous sensor-vehicles capable of working together and covering large areas of Martian terrain. Clearly, any number of LMRs in this range would be too small. Particularly cconsidering the fact that each "family" of LMRs sent out into the field would include 5 small LMRs.

5-10 Small

Sending 5-10 small LMRs to Mars would not be too difficult considering their size relative to the other components being transported to the planet. Indeed, 5-10 small LMRs would be capable of working together and could be sent out in "families." There would be, however, few small LMR backups available. Should a given LMR cease to function, it would become increasingly more and more difficult to effectively make use of the "family" concept.

10-15 Small

Sending 10-15 small LMRs is probably the most resource-efficient and secure option for Mission 2004. 10-15 LMRs would cover great amounts of Martian surface area and could travel in multiple "families" simeoultaneously. With a large number of small LMRs it would be possible to diversify the sensors on the LMRs. Different LMRs could be focused for different purposes and there would be sufficient numbers of LMRs to spread throughout "families." This would give each family a more effective variety of sensing tools.
Furthermore, 10-15 LMRs offers a large range of backup LMRs. The diverse effects of a single broken LMR would be far less pronounced if there are 10-15 small LMRs in total. These considerations, and the fact that the cost of manufacture per unit will likely drop as more and more LMRs are produced, make the choice of 10-15 small LMRs extremely favourable.

Medium Sized LMRs

Medium Sized LMRs could play a significant role in Mission 2004 as secondary bases of operation for smaller LMRs. They figure strongly in the "family" concept for our LMRs because of the implications of their size. These medium LMRs will be larger than sojourner, but far smaller than the human-run rover. The primary benefits of their increased size clearly indicate their usefulness in the LMR "family" configuration:

Power: These medium-sized LMRs would have sufficient power to run more complex computer hardware and sensors systems.

Communication: The medium-sized LMRs would be large enough to support a communications array that connects the small LMRs to the satellites in Martian orbit.

Capacity: The medium-sized LMRs would be large enough to carry particularly interesting samples back to the human base.

The Medium Sized LMRs would be capable of handling the martian winds and terrain given their larger size. They would be capable of supporting the humans by transporting supplies and samples from the human rover to the lander/base. Because of their size, however, these LMRs would not be too useful in traversing between small obstacle and in travelling into smaller, cramped, spaces. Nevertheless, with increased sensor capacity and communications capabilities, and the capability to bring back samples, these LMRs would be well-suited to interact work with the small LMRs.

0-3 Medium-Sized LMRs

Sending 0-3 Medium LMRs would be a fairly inexpensive means of augmenting the useability of the small LMRs. As there is a need for at least 1 medium LMR per "family," the mission would be limited to 0-3 "families." This could have its advantages and disadvantages. With fewer "families," to guide, the astronauts could focus on the sensor data coming from the fewer "families." This would allow for a qualitatively better use of human capabilities in searching for life on Mars. Also, with 0-3 medium LMRs, the transportation strain of carrying many possibly bulky vehicles would not be too high.

3-5 Medium

The primary argument for 3-5 LMRs would be: security. It would be possible to hold back backup LMRs should one of the field medium sized LMRs malfunctoin. The cost per unit of a large number of LMRs would be low, however the space requirements would be quite high. It is also unlikely that all the medium sized LMRs would be deployed simultaneously. To retain closer control over the LMRs the astronauts would be more likely to deploy ony a few "families" at a time.

Large

Large LMRs would be fairly big autonomous vehicles. At a size just smaller than the human-based rover, these large LMRs would be capable of generating sufficient power to support an onboard laboratory facility. Onboard experiments and infeld sample testing could be made feasible and automated. These large LMRs would not travel particularly quickly, however, they could be of great support for the small and medium LMRs. Providing a capable computer-processing base for complex image-processing programs. Because of their size, however, the Large LMRs could find it difficult to traverse the Martian terrain. Using them in "families" could limit the speed and mobility of the small and medium LMRs. It would also be difficult to transport the large LMRs to any interesting sites using the human based-rover. Also, the large LMRs would probably be prohibitively expensive to produce and transport to the Martian surface.

0-1 Large

0-1 large LMRs. One large LMR could be used to extend the range of human accessibility to the distant Martian terrain. The large LMR would have the built-in sensor and laboratory capabilities to conduct tests on interesting, distant, Martian terrain. It could reach areas the humans cannot reach (because of the range limitation imposed by the limited resources available to the humans). Once there, the large LMR would be capable of substituting for the humans. It would perform laboratory scale tests and would collect a variety of samples. This would, however, limit the usefulness of the presence of humans on Mars.

1-2 Large

Multiple large LMRs would be extremely expensive. Transporting these autonmomous vehicles would be a challenging task, and the benefits of using multiple LMRs would be rekatively insignificant. Beyond the security of having a backup LMR available, the use of two large LMRs on the surface of Mars would not readily be of any great help in finding life on the planet. Any remote experiments could be done one at a time by a single large LMR instead of being done simultaneously by two large LMRs.

15 Small, 3 Medium, 0 Large

15 Small, 3 Medium, and 0 Large LMRs. The final solution settled upon for the size and number of LMRs on Mission 2004 is:

15 Small LMRs
3 Medium LMRs
0 Large LMRs

This configuration would allow our astronauts to send out three LMR "families," an optimal for 6 human astronauts to effectively monitor. Our 3 medim LMRs would be capable of maintaining communications between the 15 small sensor-laden LMRs and the human intuition of the astronauts on the base. Our small LMRs would be sufficiently capable of travelling through tight, narrow, terrain, while our medium LMRs woul be capable of returning samples from areas beyond human-rover range.
In this way, the medium LMRs make up for the lack of large LMRs. Our astronauts would not need mobile laboratories, as the medium LMRS would be capable of returning samples from far-off regions on the Martian surface. This allows the humans to apply their human intuition and scientific techniques to the the samples, a far more appropriate solution to the problem of out-of-range samples.
With 15 small LMRs, and 3 medium LMRs it would be possible to reduce the impact of losing a single LMR on Mission 2004 as a whole. There would be sufficient LMR backups to balance the loss of a small LMR. If a single medium LMR were lost it would still be be possible to operate two "families, " and a convoy of small LMRs. This reduces the risk of being dependent on LMRs in Mission 2004 and should help promote the use of LMRs on long-range, risky, field missions. This, coupled with the cost effectiveness of producing many small LMRs and of transporting only a few medium LMRs, makes the choice of 15 small LMRs and 3 Medium LMRs both reasonable and extremely advantageous.