Alex Ellery

Alex Ellery
Carleton University · Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD

About

191
Publications
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1,946
Citations

Publications

Publications (191)
Article
Full-text available
Bio-inspired strategies for robotic sensing are essential for in situ manufactured sensors on the Moon. Sensors are one crucial component of robots that should be manufactured from lunar resources to industrialize the Moon at low cost. We are concerned with two classes of sensor: (a) position sensors and derivatives thereof are the most elementary...
Article
Full-text available
Compliant manipulation has long been a major constraint for grappling in robotic manipulators. To adopt robotic manipulators in space for the prospect of capturing space junk and transforming them into salvageable assets for re‐use, robust adaptive manipulation would be key. We believe that a bio‐inspired approach could provide human‐like tactility...
Article
Full-text available
The search for extant microbial life will be a major focus of future astrobiology missions; however, no direct extant life detection instrumentation is included in current missions to Mars. In this study, we developed the semiautomated MicroLife detection platform that collects and processes environmental samples, detects biosignatures, and charact...
Conference Paper
We explore the notion of constructing SPS from lunar resources. We review several aspects of SPS design and determine that two core components that will be essential to SPS are the magnetron and the rotary joint. The magnetron is a vacuum tube device that may be constructed from lunar resources—a CaO-coated tungsten cathode, Ni control grid and ano...
Conference Paper
For sustainability, any lunar assets must be maintainable from local resources including electronics. We review the nature of electronics fabrication using solid-state manufacturing for transistors and determine that it is not feasible on the Moon. Material availability on the Moon suggests that an alternative technology—the vacuum tube—is feasible...
Conference Paper
We explore several facets of lunar rovers relevant to the conduct of lunar mining. In particular, we suggest that subsurface mining for asteroidal material shall be necessary. Our end-to-end 30 kg Kapvik microrover prototype has served as a testbed for exploring these issues—terramechanics, vision, SLAM, path planning, onboard intelligence, and mul...
Conference Paper
We consider whether an entire spacecraft can be constructed from lunar resources by consideration of its materials availability. We first consider what functional materials would be required to construct all the major spacecraft subsystems. We then examined each lunar mineral to determine what metals, ceramics, and glasses can be extracted. We sugg...
Chapter
Artificial intelligence and robotics are leveraging technologies for lunar exploration. However, future lunar surface exploration will require exploitation of in-situ resources to reduce (and ultimately eliminate) the costs imposed by the transport of materiel from Earth. Solid-state manufacturing of electronics assets from lunar resources to elimi...
Chapter
Given the similarity in form and dynamics between earth-based and space-based robotic manipulators, transfer learning of neural network controllers would naturally be a plausible avenue to address the challenges of limited computation resources onboard the spacecraft (space manipulator). We have introduced a pretrained and learned feedforward neura...
Article
Full-text available
In the early 1980s, the Sagan-Tipler debate raged regarding the interpretation of the Fermi paradox but no clear winner emerged. Sagan favoured the existence of ETI on the basis of the Copernican principle and Tipler favoured the non-existence of ETI on the basis of the Occam's razor principle. Tipler's stance was an expansion of the similar but ea...
Article
Full-text available
The self-replicating machine has high utility by virtue of its universal construction properties and its productive capacity for exponential growth. Their capacity is unrivalled. They can be deployed to the Moon to industrialize it using local in-situ resources in the short term to open up the solar system and thence deployed on interstellar spacec...
Article
Crucial to permanent occupation of the Moon will be the ex- ploitation of local resources to build a lunar infrastructure. We examine 2 processes—the Metalysis Fray Farthing Chen (FFC) process and metal three-dimensional (3D) printing—as the backbone of a robust and sustainable industrial ecology on the Moon to exploit its raw material resources wi...
Article
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Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here, we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural history of Mars, habitability, robotic and human exploration, planetary protection, and the impacts on human societ...
Article
Full-text available
Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here, we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural history of Mars, habitability, robotic and human exploration, planetary protection, and the impacts on human societ...
Chapter
This report presents a comparison of the accuracy of algorithm developed to allow autonomous visual identification of rock types by extracting texture data from rock images. Approaches differed by their methods of transforming texture data to achieve rotational invariance in the texture feature vector. These vectors were then used for training and...
Article
Full-text available
We examine the prospect for employing a bio-inspired architecture for a lunar industrial ecology based on genetic regulatory networks. The lunar industrial ecology resembles a metabolic system in that it comprises multiple chemical processes interlinked through waste recycling. Initially, we examine lessons from factory organisation which have evol...
Article
Full-text available
In this review, I explore a broad-based view of technologies for supporting human activities on the Moon and, where appropriate, Mars. Primarily, I assess the state of life support systems technology beginning with physicochemical processes, waste processing, bioregenerative methods, food production systems and the robotics and advanced biological...
Article
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The Moon Village and similar concepts are strongly reliant on in situ resource utilisation (ISRU). There is great interest in harvesting solar power using locally leveraged in situ resources as an essential facet of in situ infrastructure. Traditionally, silicon-based photovoltaic cells have been assumed, preferably manufactured in situ using a 3D...
Article
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We present work in 3D printing electric motors from basic materials as the key to building a self-replicating machine to colonise the Moon. First, we explore the nature of the biological realm to ascertain its essence, particularly in relation to the origin of life when the inanimate became animate. We take an expansive view of this to ascertain pa...
Article
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We present a comprehensive tutorial review that explores the application of bio-inspired approaches to robot control systems for grappling and manipulating a wide range of space debris targets. Current robot manipulator control systems exploit limited techniques which can be supplemented by additional bio-inspired methods to provide a robust suite...
Article
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Space-based manipulators have traditionally been tasked with robotic on-orbit servicing or assembly functions, but active debris removal has become a more urgent application. We present a much-needed tutorial review of many of the robotics aspects of active debris removal informed by activities in on-orbit servicing. We begin with a cursory review...
Article
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We are familiar with the notion of carbon-based life forms, but are there alternatives? In this article, I describe an approach to build a living machine from engineering materials that lacks any biochemistry but uses engineering methods to live. In devising this self-replicating machine, we explore broader scientific notions of what life might be...
Article
With the recent proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles for geophysical surveying, a novel opportunity exists to develop unmanned ground vehicles in parallel. This contribution features a study to integrate the Husky A200 robotic development platform with a GSMP 35U magnetometer that has recently been developed for the unmanned aerial vehicle mar...
Article
Geomagnetic data gathering by micro-rovers is gaining momentum both for future planetary exploration missions and for terrestrial applications in extreme environments. This paper presents research into the integration of a planetary micro-rover with a potassium total-field magnetometer. The 40 kg Kapvik micro-rover is an ideal platform due to an al...
Article
Editorial for Special Issue on Robotic Astrobiology - Volume 17 Special Issue - Alex Ellery
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We outline how magnetic devices such as electric motors may be 3D printed from rare earth metals extracted from asteroids. We suggest that this presents a viable roadmap to full asteroid material utilization beyond the extraction of water and platinum group metals that are often proposed. We concur that returning such material to Earth is not viabl...
Article
Recent work in developing self-replicating machines has approached the problem as an engineering problem, using engineering materials and methods to implement an engineering analogue of a hitherto uniquely biological function. The question is – can anything be learned that might be relevant to an astrobiological context in which the problem is to d...
Article
The detection of atmospheric methane on Mars implies an active methane source. This introduces the possibility of a biotic source with the implied need to determine whether the methane is indeed biotic in nature or geologically generated. There is a clear need for robotic algorithms which are capable of manoeuvring a rover through a methane plume o...
Article
Full-text available
A classifier training methodology is presented for Kapvik, a micro-rover prototype. A simulated light detection and ranging scan is divided into a grid, with each cell having a variety of characteristics (such as number of points, point variance and mean height) which act as inputs to classification algorithms. The training step avoids the need for...
Article
Launch costs represent a fundamental limitation in accessing the space environment from the Earth's surface. However, several new trends are pointing towards a mechanism for sidestepping launch costs -Advances in robotics, the advent of in-situ resource utilisation, and developments in 3D printing techniques. Together, these technologies provide a...
Article
Robotic astrobiology involves the remote projection of intelligent capabilities to planetary missions in the search for life, preferably with human-level intelligence. Planetary rovers would be true human surrogates capable of sophisticated decision-making to enhance their scientific productivity. We explore several key aspects of this capability:...
Article
Self-replication technology is a little known technology that is currently under development and that has enormous implications for affordable space exploration. In particular, the prospect of 3D printing of actuators and electronics offers the prospect of realizing a universal constructor, which is the basis of a self-replicating machine. The univ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We examine the use of the FFC Cambridge process in conjunction with additive manufacturing as a potentially universal approach to deep in-situ resource utilisation on the Moon. FFC Cambridge process offers the means to reduce a wide range of metal oxides to extract reduced metal form. 3D printing offers the means to fashion that feedstock into a di...
Article
Full-text available
Future rover missions will be enhanced with the opportunistic search of salient targets during the planetary traverse phase. An essential component of the search is the locating and tracking of targets at the camera control level. The rover visual system must be able to follow quantified information gradients for smooth tracking in the visual field...
Chapter
No single modality sensor can provide sufficient data to extract all the relevant features of the environment but vision is the most information-rich modality. It is the primary sensory modality for planetary rovers in providing distance observation for navigation and obstacle avoidance. Furthermore, it is the most information-rich form of sensory...
Chapter
In this chapter, we progress beyond the basics of rover vision to introduce some more advanced approaches to vision processing as it underlies the development of greater enhancements to rover missions than any other facet. Often, these require considerable computational effort which may be traded with dedicated hardware. Neuromorphic vision sensors...
Chapter
To illustrate the diversity of robotic vehicles that may be deployed in the exploration of the solar system, we consider a case study concerning a robotic lander to penetrate into the ice crust of Europa to access the subsurface ocean below.
Chapter
The primary goal for a planetary rover is to navigate and traverse an unknown, hostile terrain, recognize and negotiate obstacles, deploy scientific instrumentation, and acquire samples from scientific targets.
Chapter
Science-driven autonomy involves automating the detection of scientific events and their classification on board the rover. Such events may be static or transient, the latter allowing for scientific data acquisition while mobile. This will drive reductions in ground station operational costs, increased quality of science data through limited commun...
Chapter
It is essential that rover navigation take into account the capabilities of the rover chassis. There must be a strong interaction between the navigation system and the terrain adaptation system. The dynamic systems approach to implementing adaptive cognitive behavior suggests that rover–environment interaction is the key to intelligent systems capa...
Chapter
There are five classes of locomotion adopted in mobile robots that are applicable to planetary exploration rovers: (i) wheels—rolling (e.g., automobile locomotion); (ii) tracks—rolling/screwing (e.g., armored vehicle locomotion, rotary drill); (iii) legs—walking (e.g., animal locomotion); (iv) body articulation—crawling/sliding (e.g., snake undulat...
Chapter
There are four major hardware components to a rover: the chassis, main computer, motors and motor controller, and sensors. The software binds these systems together through the control system.
Chapter
All planetary rover missions to date have adopted wheeled chassis designs across a range of rover sizes for mechanical simplicity and high reliability. This trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future. One exception was the Prop-M nanorover on the Russian Mars 3 lander (1971). The 4.5 kg Prop-M used a pair of skis mounted onto legs. Regr...
Chapter
All space missions involve the control of mission operations from a ground station mediated through a communications channel. Rover missions are no exception. For planetary missions, important constraints are imposed by the nature of the terrain, limited amount of energy available, limited computational resources, limited communication with human o...
Chapter
Path planning for a rover will be online as orbiter maps will lack the resolution required for determining local rock distributions. Once the SLAM process on board the rover has created a map representing its environment, a critical capability in rover autonomous navigation is generation of the trajectory to the goal
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Exploration by micro-rovers presents an effective approach to investigate targets of scientific value on planetary surfaces. Equipping micro-rovers with magnetometers extends the depth of investigation into the near subsurface at high spatial resolution. This poster presentation proposes the investigation of extra-terrestrial lava tubes using micro...
Article
On-orbit servicing missions in geostationary orbit with intersatellite separations less than 1 km pose a problem for ground-based electro-optical space surveillance sensors. The close separations between the objects subtend angles comparable to the size of turbulence (seeing) cells of Earth's atmosphere. Speckle interferometry using a cross-spectru...
Article
The use of shape memory alloy actuators has steadily increased within the fields of aerospace, robotics, and biomedical engineering due to their superior properties compared to other actuation systems. Position control of shape memory alloy actuators is difficult due to the highly non-linear behavior but has been well studied using numerous approac...
Article
Recent developments in three-dimensional printing technology have introduced the prospect of self-replication in the context of robotic in situ resource utilization on the moon. The value of three-dimensional printing lies in its potential to implement universal construction. A universal constructor is a machine capable of fabricating any physical...
Conference Paper
Most additive manufacturing (referred to as 3D printing henceforth) is applied to the creation of static structures. This severely restricts the scope of 3D printing techniques. To be sure, 3D printing can build structures in many different materials including plastics, metals and ceramics. This severely Nevertheless, monolithic structures are the...
Chapter
Durrant-Whyte (2001) classified five critical technologies for the realization of autonomous mobile field robots which are highly applicable to planetary rovers [761]: (i) terrain mobility; (ii) self-location; (iii) local navigation; (iv) global navigation; (v) communications. All of these issues are associated in one form or another with autonomou...
Chapter
The primary purpose of the robotic planetary rover is to deploy scientific instruments to targets of interest and acquire physical samples for in situ analysis by scientific instruments or for subsequent return to Earth. The first step in scientific analysis of soil and rock from planetary surfaces and subsurfaces in particular is sample acquisitio...
Book
The increasing adoption of terrain mobility – planetary rovers – for the investigation of planetary surfaces emphasises their central importance in space exploration. This imposes a completely new set of technologies and methodologies to the design of such spacecraft – and planetary rovers are indeed, first and foremost, spacecraft. This introduces...
Article
In order to focus this review of artificial intelligence, it has been restricted to a consideration of symbolic connectionism as a model of human intelligence. Fuzzy neural networks are considered as a subset of symbolic connectionism. Two critical processes involve the imposition of a knowledge base of symbolic rules into a neural network architec...
Conference Paper
Recent developments in three-dimensional printing technology have introduced the prospect of self-replication in the context of robotic in situ resource utilization on the moon. The value of three-dimensional printing lies in its potential to implement universal construction. A universal constructor is a machine capable of fabricating any physical...
Conference Paper
We suggest that 3D printing offers potential as a universal constructing machine that may be programmed to construct any configuration of robotic mechanism. The most difficult components of such an end-to-end machine are the actuators and the controllers. To that end, we present initial progress in attempting to develop 3D-printable electric motors...
Article
A robust classification system is proposed to support autonomous geological mapping of rocky outcrops using grayscale digital images acquired by a planetary exploration rover. The classifier uses 13 Haralick textural parameters to describe the surface of rock samples, automatically catalogues this information into a 5-bin data structure, computes B...
Article
Full-text available
On Orbit Servicing (OOS) is a class of robotic space missions that could potentially extend the life of orbiting satellites by fuel replenishment, repair, orbital maintenance or satellite repurposing, and possibly reduce the rate of space debris generation. OOS performed in geostationary orbit poses a unique challenge for the optical space surveill...
Article
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), through its Analogue Missions program, supported a microrover-based analogue mission designed to simulate a Mars rover mission geared toward identifying and characterizing methane emissions on Mars. The analogue mission included two, progressively more complex, deployments in open-pit asbestos mines where methane ca...
Article
Typical spacecraft propulsion systems depend upon the transfer of linear momentum through the expulsion of propellant using rocket motors or ion thrusters. This paper presents a method of spacecraft propulsion in which rotational angular momentum is transferred to orbital angular momentum due to the influence of gravity gradient effects. By applyin...
Article
Autonomous control of a robotic manipulator mounted on a submersible autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is simulated with various strategies employing combinations of feedback and feedforward control. Feedforward compensation of the manipulator motion is accomplished using a model of the system kinematics and dynamics. Hydrodynamic effects includi...
Article
The rocker-bogie mobility system is a six-wheeled mobility system with the ability to equilibrate ground pressure amongst its wheels and traverse obstacles up to one wheel diameter in height; it has been used previously on NASA's Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. This paper presents the mechanical design of an instrumented rocker...
Article
Recent advances in additive manufacturing methods (henceforth, 3D printing) promise enhanced local fabrication capabilities and the recent delivery of a 3D printer to the ISS is testament to such. There are 3D printing technologies that can print in plastics, metals, ceramics - this illustrates the emphasis to date on the use of 3D printers for gen...
Article
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Article
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Autonomous science augments the capabilities of planetary rovers by shifting the identification and selection of science targets from remote operators to the rover itself. This shift frees the rover from wasteful idle time and allows for more selective data collection. This paper presents an approach to autonomous science that is comprised of three...
Article
This paper presents a method for extracting data on regolith online with a planetary exploration micro-rover. The method uses a trained neural network to map engineering data from an instrumented chassis to estimates of regolith parameters. The target application for this method is a low-cost micro-rover scout on Mars that will autonomously travers...
Article
This paper details the motivation behind COTS component testing, the results, and their application for a low-cost, sample and fetch scout rover to accompany large scientific exploration rovers. Carleton University's Space Exploration Engineering Group proposed using Maxon motors and controllers for the wheel and mechanism assemblies on a micro-rov...
Article
This paper presents a procedure to model the drawbar pull and resistive torque of an unknown terrain as a function of normal load and slip using on-board rover instruments. Kapvik , which is a planetary micro-rover prototype with a rocker-bogie mobility system, is simulated in two dimensions. A suite of sensors is used to take relevant measurements...
Conference Paper
The M3 mission simulated a rover mission to Mars to search for sources of methane. The 2011 campaign found that methane plumes from serpentinite are very localized and target selection based on imagery is preferred over direct methane detection.
Article
This paper presents a novel artificial neural network approach for estimating regolith parameters and producing mobility metrics. We present an approach which acts as an enabling technology for all future rover missions. Regolith parameters in influence the performance of all ground rovers. Martian regolith is mostly sand; local variations in compo...
Article
Planetary rover missions have thus far performed in relatively benign environments to prevent loss of expensive hardware in risky, but potentially more scientifically valuable environments. Mission risk can be reduced by using micro-rover scouts that map the terrain prior to the main mission. However, micro-rovers will have more limited power and c...
Article
Full-text available
On Orbit Servicing (OOS) of geostationary (GEO) satellites represents a new robotic space mission paradigm which could extend the life of existing satellites and reduce the rate of space debris generation. This mission type poses unique challenges for traditional optical space surveillance sensors. As the satellites perform close proximity operatio...
Conference Paper
The feasibility of extended exploration and human presence on the Moon and Mars depends critically on dealing with the environmental factors, especially the intrusive effects of dust. The prior Apollo landed missions found that the lunar dust exhibited high adherence to exposed surfaces and a restrictive friction-like action causing premature wear...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The high cost of planetary rover missions limits risk-taking and therefore restricts scientific exploration. Also, limited autonomy requires time-consuming manual commands that must be issued to the rover from a great distance. This pa per explores the combination of vision-based geological in formation inferred from a Bayesian Network (BN) with th...

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