Arm-Deployed Rotary-Percussive Coring Drill

The continued development of automated sample acquisition and handling tools is of critical importance to future robotic missions on Mars, the Moon, Venus, and other planetary bodies. In response to the need for a compact, low mass, low power, and low weight-on-bit coring device, Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop an arm-deployed and arm-stabilized rotary-percussive coring tool. By using a robotic arm to deploy the coring tool into rock or soil targets and stabilize the tool while operating, the coring tool's internal deployment (or "z") axis and external stabilization devices can be removed, resulting in a more compact, lower mass device. Also, adding percussion to the coring tool will reduce average weight-on-bit and energy consumption over the duration of the coring operation. The flexibility afforded from a rover or lander arm to target outcroppings, and the relatively higher TRL of surface coring tools (vs. deeper subsurface drills), make surface coring, especially with an arm-deployed coring tool, a particularly attractive option for near term planetary exploration. The proposed Phase I activities will focus on 1) validating the ability to drill and produce cores in hard rock from a compliant robotic arm mock-up via laboratory testing, and 2) identifying and performing a trade study on vacuum-compatible, low mass percussive mechanism options for the coring tool.