back to home
Voxels for Starshade NASA NIAC Phase II Proposal Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) with John Mather, Chief Scientist of NASA James Hubb Telescope
Higher throughput strategies for assembly addressed by robotic recursion and hierarchical building

Proposal Synopsis

The advantage of a voxel-based approach to self-assembly over a robotic approach is the ability to construct incrementally with a generic, recursive geometry with robots that are significantly smaller in scale compared to the structure. The voxel metastructure is low mass with stiff, stable damping using hierarchal concepts like trusses of trusses, etc. Furthermore, in the context of a space-appropriate delivery pack, voxels can be compactly stored for launch in a flat pack thanks to 2D to 3D composition and decomposition. The major advantage of voxels is elastic averaging in structures, where global errors can be significantly less than local error. The voxel, modular approach to construction is already mature with proof of concepts in a race car, a wing, and now, simple robots building global voxel-based structures. The lab has already set a record for the highest modulus for ultra-light material with mature design tools alreadyw orking for robotic assembly. Here, we complete a trade study on plates vs. trusses vs. hybrid approaches for approaching starshade precision. A dynamic structural solver must be integrated into the robotic modeling tool. Dual layers must meet micrometeoroid requirements for strength, stiffness, vibration, and transient acceleration modes, as well as considerations for thermal stability. We will adopt a distribuetd robotic active damping approach, with a trade study around deployable vs cellular petals/skin.