Curious?????

"Dr. Omni" wrote:

> From: Ed Minchau
> [snikt]
> > Robots controlled by expert systems do not work in unstructured
> > environments, but a robot with a control system based on fuzzy logic,
> > neural nets, and genetic algorithms can be _taught_ to work in poorly-
> > defined environments.

> This fuss about neural nets, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms has lasted for
>
> the past 20 years and so far I've seen those techniques applied just to
> toyish academic problems, when it comes to Robotics: robots that run thourgh
> rooms avoiding boxes, robots that follow tape patterns glued in the walls,
> and so far.

> Therefore, I would invest in sending human miners to asteroids. They could

> operate telepresence rigs to do the excavations

I've been thinking about autonomous miners with simple enough jobs that minimal,
remote, human intervention might suffice. Here's what I've come up with:

This is for a largish asteroid with at least a meter or so of regolith. You
need three types robots (each small, make many of each):

Type one sits on the surface and scoops up regolith; which it dumps into a bin.
It can move around at random (?hopping?) when the reachable regolith is
exhausted

Type two includes the bin. It can land next to type one, wait for the bin to
fill, and return to orbit around the asteroid (?spring propulsion?).

Type three is orbit only, holds an empty bin, can rondevous with type two,
exchange bins, and return the full bin to Earth-Orbit.

Automated rondevous has been accomplished. Automated landing has been
accomplished. The scooping and filling can be developed, at least in 1g, at any
sandy beach (which is a good place to be even if you never get type one
working). Type one could be tested in low-g in an aircraft with a suitable
trajectory. This is a less pleasant place to be.

Al Globus
aglobus@..., (650) 604-4404
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html

The dinosaurs weren't spacefaring. We are. I don't think that's an accident.
Maybe we are life's taxi to the stars.

I think we should:

1. Devote half of NASA's budget ($7 billion) to reaching NASA's 2020 goal of
reducing launch costs to Low-Earth-Orbit to $220/kg with a 0.01% failure rate.
This should enable space tourism. The resulting orbital hotels will need to
develop efficient orbital life support and other necessary technologies.

2. Build orbital space colonies. The materials in the largest asteroid are
sufficient for orbital colonies with a combined surface area about 500 times
greater than Earth's. Eros alone could make over ten thousand space colonies,
each with about about 10 square kilometers of 1g living area.

3. After a few generations of orbital living, people won't need their colony
to be near Sol. Then small groups of colonies with populations in the
tens-of-thousands can set out on multi-decade journeys to nearby stars.

Except the launch goals, none of this is even a little bit official.