Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

A Windshield Wiper for Mars Dust

By atesmeh | September 25, 2012

Share

Reasearchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a windshield wiper for Mars. The actuator, a type of brush made up of Teflon fibers that are moved by materials that have shape memory, was designed to clean the ultraviolet sensors that were part of the North American space agency’s Curiosity mission, although, in the end, the device did not fly with the Martian rover. “In our laboratories, we demonstrated that it worked correctly in the extreme conditions that it would have to endure on Mars, with temperatures ranging between zero degrees and eighty below zero Celsius, and an atmospheric pressure one hundred times lower than that of the earth,” explains the head of the project at UC3M, Luis Enrique Moreno, a tenured professor in the Department of Systems and Automatics Engineering.

This device, whose technology will be used to carry out other space missions that are already under way, solves a problem presented by the atmosphere of Mars: the accumulation of iron dust on the flat surfaces of sensors. The Spanish firm Crisa, part of Astrium España, charged UC3M with developing this device, so that it could be built into the Curiosity mission’s meteorological station, REMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station), which was developed by a consortium of research centers under the direction of the Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC/INTA – Astrobiology Center).

One of the greatest challenges presented by this type of project is to reduce its weight, given that launching any type of material into space is very expensive. Because of this, the design used in this device relied on a type of actuators based on material with shape memory alloys (SMA), a very light nickel and titanium alloy that allows movement when the composite is heated. “The main advantage is that these alloys produce a material that is very strong as related to its weight, that is, a thread of less than one millimeter can lift a weight of 4 or 5 kilograms,” states Professor Moreno. “The problem presented by these mechanisms,” he continues, “is that, because they are based on thermal effects, they are not as efficient as motor technology, although they are much lighter, which is a very important consideration in space missions.”

This group and other research groups at the UC3M are currently working on a second, more elaborate prototype based on SMA technology; it will be used to clean dust from fixed meteorological stations that will be deployed as part of the MEIGA-METNET mission, whose Mars launch is set for the year 2014. “We are also using this technology to develop the exoskeletons used to aid people with mobility problems, trying to substitute motors with these materials, in order to reduce the devices’ weight and increase agility in their use,” points out Luis Enrique Moreno. According to the researchers, this new product could even be used in the future to improve the joints on the gloves used by astronauts during their excursions out of the spacecraft.

For more information visit www.uc3m.es/infocientifica.


Filed Under: Aerospace + defense

 

Related Articles Read More >

Mars helicopter receives Collier Trophy
Flexible rotary shafts to power Delta Airlines’ engines powering their first Airbus A321neo aircraft
Ontic acquires Servotek and Westcon product lines from Marsh Bellofram
Flexible rotary shafts support thrust reverser on 150 LEAP 1-A turbofan engines

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Industrial disc pack couplings
  • Pushing performance: Adding functionality to terminal blocks
  • Get to Know Würth Industrial Division
  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard

Design World Podcasts

July 26, 2022
Tech Tuesdays: Sorbothane marks 40 years of shock and vibration innovation
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings