Product category:
Simulation, modelling and validation software
News Release from: Delmia | Subject: Envision
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 24 December 2003
Simulations help prepare for Mars
landing
Envision has been used extensively by space scientists working for the Beagle 2 mission.
Envision has been used extensively by space scientists working for the Beagle 2 mission When the lander arrives on Mars on Christmas Day, Delmia technology will help it explore the topography and geology of the red planet
Beagle 2 is a British-led project to land on Mars and forms part of European Space Agency's Mars Express mission.
The primary aim of Beagle 2 is to search for evidence of past or present life on Mars.
A key component of this task is a robot arm, which is equipped with an end effector containing a set of instruments to examine the Martian surface, subsurface and nearby rocks.
Instruments contained within the arm's end effector, known as the position adjustable workbench or PAW, include spectrometers, a stereo camera system, a microscope and a range of environmental sensors.
Dr Dave Barnes, senior lecturer in charge of the Space Robotics Group at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UWA), explained: "With our experience in modelling in Delmia's Envision, we were approached by the Beagle 2 Team to help them calibrate the robot arm together with the PAW, about three years ago.
Knowing that both the arm and the PAW were designed using Dassault Systemes' Catia CAD software, advanced simulation software from sister company, Delmia, was a natural choice, because all the CAD data could be simply reused to build the various simulations.
"It is vital that both the arm and its PAW are positioned absolutely correctly, so that the instruments can function properly.
For example, some of the experiments last for several hours, so not only do we need to ensure the arm's task is proceeding smoothly, but we need to be mindful that as the sun moves through the skies, it isn't casting unhelpful shadows, preventing the solar panels which power the lander from working.
The two Beagle 2 teams in Milton Keynes and Leicester have studied all the necessary instrument deployment, and other mission tasks, exhaustively, both on a physical copy of the lander and within the Delmia generated model.
"However, the ultimate challenge will be how the equipment operates on the Martian surface, though it has performed well throughout the rehearsal period.
One instrument in the PAW is called the Mole.
It buries itself beneath the surface of Mars and takes samples.
For controlling tricky operations such as these, we take confidence from the good track record of Delmia software when operating in challenging situations".
Originally, there was a second panoramic camera system mounted on the PAW, but with weight an important consideration, the scientists realised that the creation of a virtual recreation of the Martian terrain built up from captured stereo images actually gave them several advantages.
Envision allows users to graphically create, visualise, verify and modify processes in a virtual environment.
Once built, this 3D virtual model helps to predict what is being seen as the arm moves, decreasing the chance of accidental damage.
The virtual Beagle 2 also enables the rapid planning and validation of the arm's activities, with the arm's configuration being exported straight from Envision into the model.
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