Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!cat.cis.Brown.EDU!agate!ames!kronos.arc.nasa.gov!doctor
From: doctor@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Terry Fong)
Subject: Dante II - Mt. Spurr Expedition Status (22-Jul-94)
Message-ID: <1994Jul31.081017.27960@ptolemy-ethernet.arc.nasa.gov>
Summary: status information on CMU/NASA volcano robot explorer
Keywords: Dante, teleoperations, volcano, Alaska
Sender: usenet@ptolemy-ethernet.arc.nasa.gov (usenet@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov)
Nntp-Posting-Host: tardis.arc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA Ames Intelligent Mechanisms Group
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 08:10:17 GMT
Lines: 84

The following is a status update on the Dante II project. Dante II is
an eight-legged robot (developed by the CMU Robotics Institute with
sponsorship from NASA) which is currently descending into the active
crater of Mt. Spurr, an Alaskan volcano 80 miles west of Anchorage,
Alaska. The primary objective of the Dante II project is to develop and
evaluate new techniques and technologies which can be applied to space
and planetary exploration. 

Throughout the Mt. Spurr expedition, Dante II is being remotely
operated from a base station in Anchorage using control station
software developed at CMU and NASA Ames. Live video coverage is
periodically available via NASA Select. Full mission details including
current status, real-time images/video, and technical data is available
via a WorldWideWeb server provided by the NASA Ames Intelligent
Mechanisms Group. This site can be accessed on the Internet using
information browsers such as NCSA Mosaic and the URL:

	http://maas-neotek.arc.nasa.gov/dante

Questions regarding the Dante II project may be addressed to me via email 
(terry@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov). Reponse time may be slow.

Terry Fong
NASA Ames Research Center

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daily Report (22-Jul-1994)

The primary activity for the day was to move the remaining rim station
support equipment from the staging area at the University of Alaska -
Anchorage 60 miles west across Scott Inlet to the airstrip at Beluga,
located 30 miles east of Mt.  Spurr.  The rim station equipment was
trucked from the UAA facility early this morning to the Anchorage
International Airport, where it was split into flight loads during the
day and flown to Beluga late in the afternoon.  From there, it joined
Dante (shipped over on the barge last night), where it will wait until
we get clear weather which will permit helicopter flights to the
volcano.  All the Dante equipment and support supplies required for
crater operations are now staged at Beluga, and the only remaining
action is to fly them via helicopter up to the crater site and deploy
the system on the crater rim.  Timing for this event will be
determined by weather conditions which limit helicopter accessibility
in to Mt. Spurr.

All during the day, weather conditions were poor enough to prevent
helicopter flight operations to the volcano.  At mid-morning the
Alaska National Guard flew a recon flight from Anchorage toward the
volcano, but encountered consistent 4000 foot ceilings and marginal
visibility which completely blocked access to the crater located at
the 7500 foot level of the mountain.  Through coordination with the
National Weather Service, it was determined that conditions would not
significantly improve during the remainder of the day, so the flight
teams stood down and began to prepare for any flight opportunities
available tomorrow.  Late in the evening, the cloud cover began to
break up, and the forecast is for slightly improved conditions
tomorrow, continuing to get better on Sunday and Monday.  There is a
small possibility that the weather may be good enough to fly tomorrow,
with increasing chances for the next few days as the weather clears.

In anticipation of that possibility, five members of the team will fly
via fixed wing to Beluga in the morning to perform a quick check of
Dante's electronics box.  They will inspect for any damage which may
have occurred during the barge and truck transport last night (see
yesterday's note).  The test will consist of powering up the robot,
connecting a local workstation, and exercising each of the actuator
and sensor subsystems on the machine, as well as doing basic motion
tests (ie. standing up and then squatting down on the shipping
pallet).  Assuming success on these tests, the robot will then be
reattached to the pallet and prepared for the helo flight to the
volcano.

From here, we begin a day-to-day weather hold until flyable conditions
are achieved.  Once the robot is on the crater rim, it can operate in
almost any weather condition and the mission will proceed.  The team
is currently on stand- by operations, awaiting release of the weather
hold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
 "Every once in a while declare        Terry Fong <terry@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov>
  peace. It confuses the hell out      NASA Ames, M/S 269-3, Moffett Field, CA
  of your enemies" -- Rule of Acq. #76      (415) 604-6063, (415) 604-6081 lab
