Shortly, the Moon will hold major human activity. There are multiple plans from space agencies to carry crewed missions for the establishment of permanent lunar infrastructure by taking advantage of local resources. This ambitious objective requires advanced technologies in additive manufacturing and teleoperation for lunar construction.
A Breakthrough In Teleoperation
Researchers from the University of Bristol have advanced teleoperation technology to another step towards making the exploration of the Moon more accessible. In a virtual simulation, they could command a robot to repeat simulated movements in the real world. It is an important contribution since, although communication delay issues make remote control of robots on the Moon infeasible.
The Importance Of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)
The lunar regolith is the most crucial resource required for sustaining human life on the Moon and includes water and oxygen. It can be used to sustain the basic needs of astronauts. They can also be used as a propellant for exploration lunar vehicles. However, lunar regolith is known to be abrasive, electrostatically charged, and hard to handle. Therefore, remote operations have to be carried out in that process.
The Benefits Of Virtual Simulation
The virtual model developed by researchers from Bristol offers an advantage. It may be possible to prepare astronauts for a lunar mission in as realistic an environment as possible. Such models can give an actual feeling of working in low gravity and interacting with lunar regolith. This will make the development of lunar robots more efficient and relatively inexpensive. It avoids the process of expensive physical experiments on the part of the researchers and companies.
With teleoperation for lunar construction and virtual simulation technology improvements, we are getting closer to a sustainable human presence on the Moon. “These advancements will become instrumental to the development and the board of lunar framework as space organizations and business adventures look toward the lunar surface,” the analysts finish up.
