Description: Optical fibers are inherently tolerant of cosmic radiation and a wide temperature range, immune to electromagnetic noise and thus solar flares, etc. Embedded fiber sensors can be highly resistant to shock and vibration, hence their usage in the oil drilling industry. IFOS will work with Stanford�s Center for Design Research to develop a robotic prospecting tool with fiber-optic based haptic sensing (dynamic force, vibration, temperature) and capability to detect water, volatiles, metals, and organic compounds. A tool with in-situ analysis capabilities will allow preliminary prospecting to decide what samples are most worthwhile to collect, enabling sampling of a much larger area than one could afford to do otherwise. The prospecting tool will provide a basis for telegeology, where a field geologist can replay haptic display information it gathers. Phase 1 will develop a feasibility prototype with fiber optic haptic and water detection capabilities. Phase 2 will develop a full prototype.

Benefits: The proposed project will facilitate resource prospecting on near earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids. The use of robotics for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) in outer space on various planetary bodies is essential since it uses large quantities of regolith that must be acquired and processed. In some cases this will happen while the crew is not there yet, or it will take place at a remote destination where the crew cannot spend much time due to radiation exposure limits (Asteroids, Mars� Moons and NEOs). Communications latencies of greater than 40 minutes at Asteroids mandate autonomous robotics applications.

Ultimately, commercial application of space will involve mining of NEOs exploiting technology developed in this project. The proposed work will also benefit haptic capabilities in robots performing (a) dexterous tasks in environments dangerous/inaccessible for humans (e.g., handling hazardous materials) and (b) highly skilled operations to enhance human operator capabilities (e.g., tele-surgery).