System for Recording Regolith Movement During Excavation Processes
The measurement system enables the recording of the motion of granular material resulting from interactions with mechatronic devices such as planetary regolith sampling tools, excavation devices, rover wheels, and similar equipment. The measurement system consists of three main subsystems:
- Load Application Subsystem
This subsystem applies a load to the granular material, allowing movement in a single direction (parallel to the regolith surface). It also includes a mechanism for preparing regolith with specific geotechnical properties. - Vision and Force/Moment Measurement Subsystem
This subsystem allows the recording of visual signals with a frequency of up to 1 kHz or with a maximum field of view of approximately 0.5 m. It is also equipped with a six-axis force and moment sensor mounted on the interface of the load application element. - Data Acquisition Subsystem
This subsystem enables the recording of visual data and its processing using the DIC (Digital Image Correlation) method. The camera and data acquisition system are provided by LaVision.
The entire measurement system is depicted in the figures below and is located in room 040.
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Figure 1: (a) Load application subsystem for granular material, along with the prepared container of regolith. (b) Vision measurement subsystem and the regolith preparation setup.
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Figure 2: An example measurement result showing regolith displacement analyzed using the DIC method: (a), (b), (c) – successive phases of the penetrator embedding into the regolith. (d) – measurement result of the size of the disturbed zone caused by the penetrator.
