Development and Integration of a Mini Corer Drill

Abstract

THE Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as part of its Exploration Surface Mobility (ESM) project has been developing ISRU specific tools capable of utilization at the end of a robotic manipulator arm. The Mini Corer Drill is a two-piece sample acquisition and encapsulation tool designed for use as an end effector tool for small and medium manipulator arms on rovers and landers. The Mini Corer system consists of a drill unit, attached as an end effector on a robotic manipulator arm, and a sample handling unit, mounted on a rover chassis. The Drill Unit is deployed and stabilized during operations by a robotic arm, thus the reaction forces, which must be absorbed by the arm, must be minimized. This precludes the use of rotation only coring and requires the use of percussive assist in the drilling. This percussion is imparted using a top hammer concept, already well proven in the mining industry. The Sample Handling Unit is mounted on the rover chassis and provides a method for storage and encapsulation of the drill rods and acquired samples. It is a simple carousel system with 10 storage slots as well as a storage location for a Rock Abrasion Tool, essentially another drill rod with a closed face bit. Sample acquisition and handling takes on a primary role of maintaining sample integrity for loosely consolidated material. This paper will present the progress and results of the final testing of the Mini Corer and the integration of the unit to a 1.2 Metre arm for Canadian Space Agency use in field trials.