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 (27-Jul-94)
Message-ID: <1994Jul31.081601.28348@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 08:16:01 GMT
Lines: 143

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

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Daily Report (27-Jul-1994)

Each day the project accomplishes 90% of the remaining tasks and
proceeds 90% of the remaining distance toward the goal of having Dante
walking into the volcano crater.  And each day, forces beyond the
control of the project seem to conspire to prevent us from achieving
that last 10%, which becomes the next day's 90%.  Today was no
exception.

This morning weather and flying condition evaluations permitted early
access to Mt. Spurr (this is somewhat of an understatement - the sky
was so clear that the top of Mt. Spurr was clearly visible from Fort
Richardson, over 90 miles away).  Scott Boehmke and Tim Hegadorn flew
out to the crater with the Blackhawk helicopter.  After a brief
conversation at the dirt airstrip with all members of the deployment
team and flight crew to review safety procedures and the boundaries of
the safely traversable areas around the crater, they continued
establishing the robot support equipment deployment interrupted by
yesterday's weather evacuation.  This included completing the cabling
connections, verifying the physical status of the robot, completing
and connecting the tether anchor, inspecting and starting the
generator, anchoring all the rim station equipment, repairing the
damage to the sensor arch and replacing the arch fastening bolts,
emplacing the laser scanner and pan/tilt camera unit, and deploying
the RF modem.

In the mean time, the Blackhawk helicopter descended from the crater
to the dirt airstrip to retrieve the satellite dish, the pedestal, and
associated equipment for the satellite communications.  This was
lifted to the crater site and lowered into place without incident, and
the helicopter then remained at the crater rim as the deployment
effort continued.

Meanwhile, the satellite feed horn which was returned to Anchorage
yesterday was inspected and validated.  As a precaution, the wave
guides on the assembly were replaced by GCI, and tested for proper
operation.  Shawn and John Bares then flew out to the dirt airstrip
via commercial helicopter with the refurbished feed horn assembly.
Unfortunately, by the time they reached the airstrip in late morning,
the weather conditions had again dramatically changed for the worse.
The entire peak of the mountain was encased in a layer of clouds which
limited visibility to less than 300 feet and completely prevented any
type of flight operations.  By the time the day was over, they waited
at the dirt strip until nearly 7:00pm, looking without success for any
break in the cloud cover which would permit flying up to the crater.

The team members and flight crew at the rim were locked in place by
the same cloud cover, and could not fly out of the crater.  Virtually
all remaining preparations for the operation of the robot had been
completed except those associated with the final assembly and aiming
of the satellite dish (which require that the feed horn be in place).
Since the arrival of the dish and dish pedestal at the rim, all the
communications cabling had been completed, all power systems for the
dish had been connected and verified, and sixty sandbags had been
filled, tied, and placed on the support stand for the pedestal to
prevent shifting of the dish which might be caused by high winds or
other factors.  All that remained was the installation of the feed
horn, which was stuck at the airstrip two miles away, and aiming the
dish.  Once that was completed (expected to take about an hour), Dante
could be powered up and the remote operations checkout could be
initiated as the final step before walking off the shipping pallet and
into the crater.

During the entire day the team at the crater rim were in constant
radio contact with the staff at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, who
were monitoring the seismic activity of the volcano and were poised to
call for an emergency evacuation of the mountain if anything should
begin to happen.  The seismographs utilized by the AVO are sensitive
enough to note the rock fall from the crater walls, and pick up the
vibrations caused by the helicopters flying above the crater.  At
about 3:00 the seismograph picked up significant activity as an
earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale originated approximately
20 miles away from the mountain.  It was quickly determined that the
quake did not excite any activity in the volcano and no emergency
evacuation would be necessary.  However, there was a little bit of
consternation on the part of the rim team when AVO called them on the
radio and their first question was "hey, did you guys just feel that
earthquake?!!!"

As all of this was going on, a gaggle of local reporters suddenly
arrived at the airstrip in two leased aircraft and began to demand
that the ANG helicopters shuttle them up to the crater to cover the
deployment of Dante (it should be noted that the project has become a
major topic in the Alaskan press - updates on the progress of the
project are made in every evening newscast and each morning's paper,
including front-page coverage of yesterday's activities).  However,
they were prevented from access to the crater by the same conditions
hampering the movement of the deployment team, and ended up just
standing around filming the dirt airstrip (second hand reports from
those who had the time to see them indicate that although watching a
screen full of dirt and clouds was not the most visually exciting item
of the day, it was carried on three of the local newscasts).  One of
the photographers also took advantage of the opportunity to
demonstrate incredible stupidity by walking within four feet of a
spinning tail rotor as one of the helicopters was taking off.  Shortly
thereafter there was some discussion about him having to learn how to
fly by himself at 5,000 feet if he ever did something that dumb again.

Finally, a hole in the cloud cover permitted the Blackhawk to egress
from the rim and descend to the airstrip at about 7:00pm.  With no
other sign of a signficant change in the weather condtions for the
remainder of the evening, the effort was called off for the day.  As
this report is being written (approximately 1:00am Thursday), the
skies have cleared and it is anticipated that the morning skies will
permit the final preparation operations to be completed.  Needless to
say, the project team is feeling somewhat frustrated with the
continuing weather delays, but it is hoped that by the end of the day
tomorrow the entire rim system will be functional and Dante will be
wallking within the crater (weather permitting!).

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-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
 "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
