The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Step Motor Helps Robot Capture Images in 3D

By robottf | December 23, 2009

Michael Comberiate, who manages the Special Projects Initiatives at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and his team of graduate and undergraduate engineering students build robotic vehicles that are used to test flight avionics, instruments, communications protocols, and approaches for planetary exploration. One project involves developing new communication protocols suitable for the delays encountered in space travel. This research involves the transmission of commands and images between the flight center on Earth and exploratory vehicles roaming various planets. The team works with a robot named Nanook that is outfitted with an imaging system that uses a step motor to help it collect data for 3D images. If Comberiate’s research proves successful, the communication protocols will be used in projects like the Mars Rover explorations, but they could also help solve communication problems here on Earth.


The robotic mothership undergoes testing in Anartica and Alaska while being operational from Maryland.  The current test system runs around $30,000 while the final rover that will be sent to Mars can exceed $100 million.

The Internet, for example, is not suited to a transmission delay of more than 3 seconds. When sending data from say Mars, line of sight transmission can still experience delays of five to ten minutes. Without line of sight, the delay is even longer, often hours.

When a communication protocol experiences a transmission delay, the usual procedure is to try to send the transmission again, from the beginning. This process is not suitable for planetary exploration, thus, the need for a new communication protocol that can handle long delays.

In their research, Comberiate and his team developed a robot that is being tested at the arctic and that could wind up in the Mars Rover mission. Communicating between their offices in Maryland and the robot at the South Pole is similar to communicating to a roving robot on Mars. The engineers experience satellite synchronization issues with volumes of data as the robot takes digital dot-matrix pictures of objects it finds, similar to what they will experience when transmitting with equipment on another planet. The images are sent to the engineers, who then decide what objects require a closer look. Dot matrix is used because it will transmit faster than a digital camera image.

The robot uses laser-based guidance known as LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging) to find and take images of objects. It is semi-autonomous and has 3D scanning capability with image stitching.

The laser has a spinning mirror inside that sweeps the beam from left to right, measuring the time it takes to return a pulsed beam of infrared light from an object. The mirror spins four times on each horizontal line and then a step motor raises it up ¼ of a degree in the vertical axis. The laser spins again along the horizontal line, building the image one line at a time. “We scan with a ¼ degree of accuracy left and right, and ¼ degree of accuracy up and down,” noted Comberiate, “which gives us a 3D image. The colors show a low resolution of the distance to every point in the scan, but the computer onboard has about 1000 times more data than shown in the images. These images convey the critical information to the operators on Earth, but take 1000 times less time to send than a typical photograph.”


The 3D scanning provided by the mothership brings back images that show depth of field plus azimuth plus elevation.  The different colors shown in the images depict varying distances from the mothership.

Previous imaging systems could not deliver the needed resolution and the pictures displayed considerable distortion. “We chose the Lin Engineering step motor because it could handle the arctic conditions of -40 below 0 and still deliver smooth motion and hold position,” said Comberiate. “It gives us excellent remote control over the size of each step.”

In the rugged environments, the robot must operate off batteries. “We direct the heat from the electronics to where it is needed throughout the robot and to the batteries to keep them warm. Any motor we choose must be able to handle such environmental conditions.” Comberiate and his team will be continuing their research at the arctic in January 2010.


Discuss this on the Engineering Exchange:

Lin Engineering
www.linengineering.com

About The Author

robottf

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles Read More >

SUNY Adirondack to launch new program in mechatronics
Eplan Data Portal migrates to Azure
Transcript: How mechatronics is taking additive manufacturing to the next level
Is there a need for closed loop feedback greater than 20,000 CPR?

RBR50 Innovation Awards

“rr
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Robotics Professionals.
The Robot Report Listing Database

Latest Episode of The Robot Report Podcast

Automated Warehouse Research Reports

Sponsored Content

  • Sager Electronics and its partners, logos shown here, will exhibit at the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo. Sager Electronics to exhibit at the Robotics Summit & Expo
  • The Shift in Robotics: How Visual Perception is Separating Winners from the Pack
  • An AutoStore automated storage and retrieval grid. Webinar to provide automated storage and retrieval adoption advice
  • Smaller, tougher devices for evolving demands
  • Modular motors and gearboxes make product development simple
The Robot Report
  • Automated Warehouse
  • RoboBusiness Event
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About The Robot Report
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe