Swarm Of Mini Helecopters For 2016 Mars Mission

[belovelife]

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=helicopter&cat=40244

 

how difficult would it be to add a swarm of helecopters to the next mars mission

i can think of a few ideas for it also

 

but the computer navigation would have to be really good

 

while things like landing in high winds, and the lander being able to drive up the the helecopter, pick it up, clean it off, and recharge it would be neccisary

[Moontanman]

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=helicopter&cat=40244

 

how difficult would it be to add a swarm of helecopters to the next mars mission

i can think of a few ideas for it also

 

but the computer navigation would have to be really good

 

while things like landing in high winds, and the lander being able to drive up the the helecopter, pick it up, clean it off, and recharge it would be neccisary

 

 

Considering how thin the martian atmosphere is I doubt this would be possible. We cannot get a helicopter on earth to operate at a much higher density atmosphere. The martian atmosphere is only 1% of earths air pressure.

[belovelife]

how about short burst, mini compressor "frog" with wings so it can glide

Edited August 21, 2012 by belovelife

[Moontanman]

how about short burst, mini compressor "frog" with wings so it can glide

 

 

It might work, have to have big wings or be very small and light though.

[belovelife]

well we have cameras light enoguh now, i think the biggest weight issue would be either the battery or the compressor, or air storage

 

i guess a variety of them would be the answer

 

from large to small

 

 

but things like that cave that was found, would be difficult to get out of

 

but you could send one in, and use the others as a data relay chain,

 

then have the landers high poweer send the data to the mro or something

 

but the rover would need to be able to control the frogs itself

 

i bet 2 mini cameras could make it possible to get 3d perspective on the path

 

and mabe a minni carbon fibre tank for the compressed gas

 

but with all the dust on mars, the compressor would have to be made of something hard, so it wouldn't get damaged

unless a mini air filtration system like ceramic could filter out the particles

 

don't know too much about the details of engeneering a mini compressor,

but i do know that they are power hungry

 

i bet they would all need a solar pannel also

 

with air compressor jets that can periodically clean the pannels

 

else they would get covered with dust really fast

[Moontanman]

well we have cameras light enoguh now, i think the biggest weight issue would be either the battery or the compressor, or air storage

 

i guess a variety of them would be the answer

 

from large to small

 

 

but things like that cave that was found, would be difficult to get out of

 

but you could send one in, and use the others as a data relay chain,

 

then have the landers high poweer send the data to the mro or something

 

but the rover would need to be able to control the frogs itself

 

i bet 2 mini cameras could make it possible to get 3d perspective on the path

 

and mabe a minni carbon fibre tank for the compressed gas

 

but with all the dust on mars, the compressor would have to be made of something hard, so it wouldn't get damaged

unless a mini air filtration system like ceramic could filter out the particles

 

don't know too much about the details of engeneering a mini compressor,

but i do know that they are power hungry

 

i bet they would all need a solar pannel also

 

with air compressor jets that can periodically clean the pannels

 

else they would get covered with dust really fast

 

 

They might work, I don't think they would be as useful as you seem to think. We have orbiters around mars now that can resolves very small objects but landing on one of the deep hole like caves would be interesting for sure. Crawling around on the surface is more efficient than flying at looking at small things around you but you could cover more ground. Controlling the flyers would be your biggest obstacle, a crawler can move slowly and mistakes can be either avoided or corrected, flying machines are not as forgiving of mistakes.

[belovelife]

yeah, but a hopping machine cannot go too high

 

and if it were to decend into a cave, there are a few options

 

you could use that silk that the genetically modified goats make, then spin a thread as it decends into the cave

you could have a tank big enough to compress anough gas to decend slowly

you could hope the iron content is high enough, and have it magnetically climb down a wall

 

 

then again, you could have a small air bag, and have a tank with hydrogen or helium, and be able to switch the intake to compress the gas again

then after you reach the said cave, switch the compressor to the other tank, and flood the baloon with hydrogen

compress little by little till it lands, then refill to get out

 

there are so many options

 

it has to be possible

 

the thing is the pover would have to be smart enought to control it with limited data

 

you could also have one with a mini laser, and a relay

 

so if the one in the cave runs out of energy, they can send energy in a chain laser to solar pannel, laser to solar pannel, etc

 

then a swarm would be able to go really far into caves

 

limited only by the amount of curves that would prevent a direct line laser to recharge the batteries

Edited August 21, 2012 by belovelife

[Moontanman]

yeah, but a hopping machine cannot go too high

 

and if it were to decend into a cave, there are a few options

 

you could use that silk that the genetically modified goats make, then spin a thread as it decends into the cave

you could have a tank big enough to compress anough gas to decend slowly

you could hope the iron content is high enough, and have it magnetically climb down a wall

 

 

then again, you could have a small air bag, and have a tank with hydrogen or helium, and be able to switch the intake to compress the gas again

then after you reach the said cave, switch the compressor to the other tank, and flood the baloon with hydrogen

compress little by little till it lands, then refill to get out

 

there are so many options

 

it has to be possible

 

the thing is the pover would have to be smart enought to control it with limited data

 

you could also have one with a mini laser, and a relay

 

so if the one in the cave runs out of energy, they can send energy in a chain laser to solar pannel, laser to solar pannel, etc

 

then a swarm would be able to go really far into caves

 

limited only by the amount of curves that would prevent a direct line laser to recharge the batteries

 

 

I to am interested in what is inside those caverns on mars, possibly a lander that could lower and hoist a another smaller rover down into the cavern would work.

[belovelife]

same issue, transmitting the data to the surface

[Moontanman]

same issue, transmitting the data to the surface

 

 

How so, the same cable used to lower it could also be used to transmit data couldn't it?

[belovelife]

?if it were a fibre optic cable connected to a laser that sent pulses to a surface transmitting system

 

mabe

 

but the lenght of the cable would bet in the way

[Moontanman]

?if it were a fibre optic cable connected to a laser that sent pulses to a surface transmitting system

 

mabe

 

but the lenght of the cable would bet in the way

 

 

It would of course depend on how deep those holes are, on the earth they are only a few hundred feet deep but the ones on the earth are made by the erosion of flowing water. The existence of those holes is very suggestive...

[belovelife]

i know, and if they go deep, like in kilometers deep, there may be heavier atmoshpere,

 

liquid water

 

LIFE

 

 

but we would need alot of planning,

 

say for instance we found one that was really deep, but we sent only enough of a swarm to get a certain distance in,

 

then we would need to be able to send more, while the set chain maps the cave

 

then when the new set arrives, it would have to be able to change batteries and other wise repair

 

things like potential moisture and other corrosive conditions taken into consideration

 

thats what i think

[Moontanman]

i know, and if they go deep, like in kilometers deep, there may be heavier atmoshpere,

 

liquid water

 

LIFE

 

 

but we would need alot of planning,

 

say for instance we found one that was really deep, but we sent only enough of a swarm to get a certain distance in,

 

then we would need to be able to send more, while the set chain maps the cave

 

then when the new set arrives, it would have to be able to change batteries and other wise repair

 

things like potential moisture and other corrosive conditions taken into consideration

 

thats what i think

 

 

There is a valley on mars deep enough to allow liquid water if only briefly. It would be very interesting to know just how deep those pits really are.

[belovelife]

interesting thing, if we used a helium gas baloon concept, with a small fan to navigate,

 

going distances would be relatively easy

 

and once it lands and finds optimal line of laser connection to the next one in the chain

it could be stationary

 

and use its laser to map the cave

 

at the gravity of mars, you wouldn't need a super big baloon either

 

but it would have to be strong vs sharp rocks

[Moontanman]

interesting thing, if we used a helium gas baloon concept, with a small fan to navigate,

 

going distances would be relatively easy

 

and once it lands and finds optimal line of laser connection to the next one in the chain

it could be stationary

 

and use its laser to map the cave

 

at the gravity of mars, you wouldn't need a super big baloon either

 

but it would have to be strong vs sharp rocks

 

 

The only problem with that is that helium escapes rather fast from a balloon. It would have limited usefulness. The thin atmosphere would be a problem as well.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Moontanman

[belovelife]

thats where the frog like ability comes in