In the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel are siblings walking in the forest dropping breadcrumbs. He left a milestone to find the way home. A study has found that the same method could help explore Mars. Instead of breadcrumbs, small repeaters are placed along the road.
Recently, researchers led by Professor Wolfgang Fink from the University of Arizona in the United States announced that “a rover (mobile robot) that has been exploring Mars can establish a temporary wireless communication network by dropping small repeaters along the way , just like Hansel and Gretel. siblings in the fairy tale.” The results of this research have been confirmed for publication in the international journal ‘Advances in Space Research’.
◇ Breadcrumb detector to find the way in the lava cave
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is trying to build a base for astronauts to live on Mars. The best candidate site is a lava tube. This is because entering the cave can block radiation from space without building a separate building. The problem is that the rover used to explore the lava cave is at great risk of losing communication with the outside world.
Researchers at the University of Arizona found the answer in Hansel and Gretel. A large wanderer who acts as a kind of mother goes to the entrance of the cave. After that, a small rover emerges from the mothership and explores the interior of the lava cave. The little nomads send and receive signals wirelessly as they explore each cave.
If the signal weakens, the small rover drops the relay sensor regardless of the distance. The sensors establish an ad hoc wireless network. The information collected by each of the small rovers is transmitted to the large rover at the entrance via this wireless network. The small rover does not follow the commands or previous input information sent by the large rover, and whenever the signal weakens, it judges itself and uses the sensor.
The researchers also developed sensor prototypes with wireless capabilities. “In our exploration scenario, small sensors on a small rover board become breadcrumbs,” said Professor Pink.
The research team said they got the idea from the fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and put ‘A Hansel & Gretel Breadcrumb-Style Dynamically Deployed Communication Network’ in the title of the thesis.
◇ Useful for underwater exploration and search and rescue
The same technique could also be used when exploring Saturn’s moon Titan, the researchers said. Titan is thought to have a salty ocean similar to Earth’s Dead Sea. NASA is looking for a way to transfer communications via floating balloons between an orbiter orbiting Titan and a lander landing on the ocean.
Researchers at the University of Arizona can build a communications network that sends salinity, water temperature, and pressure measurement information to landers, balloons, or orbiters on the surface when small submersibles, such as rovers exploring lava tubes on Mars, explore with breadcrumb repeaters. there are
“The communication network proposed in the paper can open a new era in the search for life on planets,” said Professor Dirk Schulch Macouchi from Berlin Gongdia, Germany. You can explore the sea,” he said.
The same method can be used on Earth. The research team proposed that rescue and search missions could be carried out on behalf of humans by sending rovers to areas where natural disasters such as earthquakes occurred and placing wireless intermediate sensors in various places.
The research team is currently conducting research on the establishment of a practical communication network through repeaters installed by the rover. Professor Pink explained, “Basically, we are teaching our ‘Hansel and Gretel’ how to drop breadcrumbs to build a net-like communication network.”
Address
Advances in Space Research, DOIL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2023.02.012
