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    Rhizome 2.0: Scaling-up Capability of Human-Robot Interaction Supported Approaches for Robotically 3D-printing Extraterrestrial Habitats

    Rhizome 2.0: Scaling-up Capability of Human-Robot Interaction Supported Approaches for Robotically 3D-printing Extraterrestrial Habitats

    Category: Life & Physical Science Payloads, Life Support, Robotics & Automation (ESA Technology Strategy Chapter 6.6)
    All authors
    Abstract
    Proposed research aims to develop a materially, structurally, and environmentally optimised 3D printed structure by means of Robot-Robot and Human-Robot Interaction (R/HRI) supported Design-to-Robotic-Production-Assembly and Operation (D2RPA&O). It will demonstrate the scalability of the concept developed in the ESA funded Rhizome [1] study (Fig. 1) with the aim to (a) understand whether it is applicable to large ‘real life’ construction scale and (b) outline the associated challenges and proposed solutions. It advances knowledge and technology developed so far at Technical University Delft (TUD) in collaboration with industrial partner, Vertico, for the construction of a habitat in an empty lava tube on Mars. While the subsurface habitat has natural protection from radiation and profits from lesser temperature fluctuations its construction relies on a swarm of autonomous mobile robots equipped with various end-effectors. They are deployed to mine for materials used to 3D print building components that are assembled using R/HRI supported D2RP&A methods. The assembled structure hosts a Life Support System (LLS), which relies on D2RO methods. Both, habitat construction and inhabitation are powered by an energy system combining solar- and kite-power [2]. The ultimate goal has been to develop an autarkic HRI supported D2RPA&O system employing In-situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) for building subsurface habitats.
    [1] Link to Rhizome documentation: http://cs.roboticbuilding.eu/index.php/Shared:RhizomeReview6
    [2] Link to KP: http://www.kitepower.eu/home.html
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    Technical University Delft (TUD)
    • Netherlands
    h.h.bier@tudelft.nl
    • Co-sponsored Research

    In the Rhizome study, the technology developed for terrestrial applications at TUD and Vertico has been adapted to and tested at small scale, for extraterrestrial conditions (Bier et. al, 2021 and 2022). The developed technology was found to be transferable from terrestrial to extraterrestrial applications and vice-versa, while respective limitations were identified. For instance, large scale concrete 3D printing approaches that are meanwhile industrially implemented on Earth, are printed without having been structurally optimized, hence, the resulting structures are unnecessarily heavy and require too much material and long printing time often relying on energetically expensive processed cement [1].

    3D printing employing topology optimization has been implemented in the Rhizome study by analyzing the forces in the structure and by removing exces material based on the mapped forces onto the primitive geometry (inter al. Bier et al, 2021). This D2RP approach has been used to generate small scale prototypes (±0.3/0.2/0.5m), while challenges for large-scale structures still need to be investigated. Furthermore, integration with thermal insulation requirements, as proven in Rhizome, needs to be explored with respect to scaling up, as well as respective construction challenges involving R/ HRI supported D2RA approaches. The integration of the two, D2RP&A, with D2RO was focused in Rhizome on lighting. This will be extended towards including all environmental control aspects required for the life support system (LSS) in order to have a complete D2RPA&O process that will be tested for its applicability to ‘real life’ construction scale. Hence, a fragment of a larger structure (±3/4/8m) will be designed and constructed within a period of 3 years as part of a co-funded PhD research at TU Delft involving ESA and Vertico as partners. The 4th year will be dedicated to compiling the dissertation that aims to answer following main research questions: 

    1. What are scalability possibilities of D2RP and R/ HRI supported D2RA approaches in (on- and off-site) extraterrestrial building processes?
    2. To what extent are optimised material and component design (based on structural and insulation considerations) scalable to building size?
    3. What are modalities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported D2RO methods to integrate efficiently all functionalities for environmental control at building scale in extraterrestrial habitats?

    These questions will be answered by employing a research-by-design method that involves numerical and experimental studies.

    Research sub-/questions and plan

    Main research questions and subsequent sub-questions are:

    1. What are scalability possibilities of D2RP and R/ HRI supported D2RA approaches in (on- and off-site) extraterrestrial building processes?

    1.1 What are challenges of prefabrication vs. in-situ approaches?

    1.2 What building typologies (low-rise vs. high-rise) are more efficiently constructed with the proposed approach?

     

    2. To what extent are optimised material and component design (based on structural and thermal insulation considerations) scalable to building size?

    2.1 What is the impact of large-scale porosity (door, windows, etc.) on the overall performance?

    2.2 What is the impact of ‘blended’ cements (inter al. Saleh et al., 2020) on structural and thermal insulation properties?

     

    3. What are modalities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported D2RO methods and how are other functionalities for environmental control (i.e., LSS) efficiently integrated using these methods in extraterrestrial habitats?

    3.1 What are modalities for integrating environmental control (involving sensor-actuator networks, pipping, etc.) at building scale?

    3.2 What are modalities for AI and R/ HRI supported D2RO approaches to optimise lighting (Caballero-Arce, 2012), which is very important for well-being of the inhabitants?

    3.2 To what extent can AI and R/ HRI supported D2RO technologies improve the indoor environment and increase human comfort [2] in underground [3] extraterrestrial habitats?

     

    These sub-/ questions are answered by employing a research-by-design method involving numerical and experimental studies implemented ±50% at TU Delft and ±50% at Vertico. The preliminary studies implemented in the 1st year will be concluded with the construction of a fragment of a larger structure (±3/4/8m) in the 2nd and 3rd years as part of a co-funded PhD research involving ESA and Vertico as partners. The 4th year will be dedicated to compiling the dissertation.

    Year 1:

    Literature review and state-of-the-art analysis

    Material research

    Identification of relevant aspects for the scalability studies and concept development of the proposed integrated R/HRI supported D2RP&A and D2RO approaches

    Archiving and publication (of min. 1 conference and 1 journal paper)

    Year 2:

    Development of computational model with all aspects integrated and production of relevant samples

    Simulation and testing of the on-site production process

    Archiving and publication (of min. 1 conference and 1 journal paper)

    Year 3:

    Simulation and testing of on-site production process using relevant fragments

    Large scale prototyping

    Archiving and publication (of min. 1 conference and 1 journal paper)

    Year 4:

    Dissertation, archiving, and publication (of min. book chapter, manuscript, and oral defense)

    PhD candidate will be supervised by a team of experts in advanced manufacturing, 3D printing, AI supported D2RPA&O, structural and material engineering, R/ HRI, and swarm robotics from TU Delft, ESA, and Vertico. Research results will be published yearly in peer reviewed conference proceedings, journals, and books such as TU Delft’s Spool Cyber-physical Architecture (CpA) and Springer’s Adaptive Environments (AE), respectively, for which the main supervisor acts as editor and editor-in-chief. The dissertation will be compiled from the journal publications.


    [1] The use of blended cements aids in reducing the amount of energy used (Saleh, 2020)

    [2] For instance, it is important for humans living underground to have lighting that behaves similarly as daylight with respect to day-night cycle, color, intensity, directionality and diffuseness. In order to achieve this, data will be collected from the open-source weather map data for a specific location to inform a Machine Learning (ML) model. The model will be trained with existing weather map data and calculated performance rating (based on selected evaluation criteria) for each individual configuration. The trained model will provide customised lighting that improves psychological comfort. 

    [3] Building habitats underground in empty lava tubes has proven in the Rhizome study to be advantageous mainly because of the protection from radiation that the tubes provide.

    TUD, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among the top 10 engineering and technology universities in the world. The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE) is the largest faculty of TUD and is one of the top faculties in the world: it was ranked 2nd in the world's top universities for architecture in the QS World University Rankings. 

    For this project, in particular the expertise developed in the Robotic Building (RB) lab at ABE, led by Henriette Bier, Cognitive Robotics at Mechanical Engineering, TUD and 3D printing at Vertico are of relevance.

    H. Bier, A. Cervone, and A. Makaya, 2021: Spool CpA 4 issue accessible from https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/spool/issue/view/787

    H. Bier et al., 2022: Rhizome - Development of an Autarkic Design-to-Robotic-Production and -Operation System for Building Off-Earth Habitats, final report accessible from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LTRhiiAVrlg0artZGrsVVkvVhr4TXfp3/edit#heading=h.vy408n9qifom

    C. Caballero-Arce, A. Vigil-de Insausti, J. Benlloch-Marco, 2012: Lighting of space habitats: Influence of color temperature on a crew’s physical and mental health, 42nd International Conference on Environmental Systems, 15 - 19 July 2012, San Diego, California

    H. Saleh et al., 2020: Innovative cement-based materials for environmental protection and restoration accessible from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/blended-cement

    • 3. faster adoption of innovative technology
    • Enabling & Support (including space transportation,technology and operations)

    Off-Earth Manufacturing

    Dr. Advenit Makaya

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    • Aug 24, 2022
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