Bio-Inspired Ice Adhesion Robot for Exploring Icy Moons

Abstract

Enceladus, one of the icy moons of Saturn, has been of major scientific interest since the Cassini-Huygens mission has explored the Saturn system. This is due to cryovolcanic geysers with complex organic molecules and other ingredients for life in it blasting into space from its subglacial warm ocean. The moon's harsh environmental conditions require innovative bio-inspired locomotion strategies that enable the exploration of Enceladus. This thesis presents a novel ice adhesion effector based on the thermoelectric effect to create reversible adhesive connections. The effector developed here has a recorded ice adhesive strength of 1.5 MPa; enough to support the small-scale robotic system developed in this thesis. The robotic system combines a tracked locomotion method with the ice adhesion technology, that enables the robot to move continuously on steep inclined ice walls. This new technology can be used for transportation of scientific instruments in extreme environments.