Environmental Chamber Testing of a Rock Sampling Drill for Venus Exploration

摘要

Honeybee Robotics has developed a rotary-percussive rock sampling drill and high temperature (HT)electromagnetic actuator for a proposed mission to Venus known as VISAGE (Venus In Situ Atmosphericand Geochemical Explorer). The drill is powered by two brushless DC motors that have been characterizedin dynamometer tests run at both room temperature and Venus surface temperature of ～462℃.Dynamometer test results are compared with performance estimates obtained using ANSYS Maxwellanalysis software, demonstrating that losses at high temperature can be predicted with reasonableaccuracy. Drilling trials conducted in JPL’s Venus Material Test Facility (VMTF) have demonstrated thefeasibility of sampling threshold strength Venus analog material within a time window compatible with theproposed VISAGE mission concept of operations.