The concept of solar power from the space was proposed in 1968. The basic idea of this concept is the generation of emission-free solar energy by means of solar cells from outer space and the transmission of energy to the earth using microwave or laser beam. Because of high launch cost the structure - consisting of solar cells as well as microwave transmitters - should be light weight. Instead of the conventional rigid structures a new concept (Furoshiki Concept) of a large membrane or a mesh structure was proposed. Next step to be realized is the transport of solar panels and microwave transmitters on this mesh structure. The main purpose of this project was the development of mobile mini robots that place solar cells and transmitters on the net structure to build a solar power plant based on the Furoshiki net concept. A sounding rocket launches four satellites (one mother satellite and three daughter satellites), robots, net, solar panel and the microwave transmitters in the orbit. Approximately 60 seconds after launch the rocket reaches an altitude of 60 km. The mother satellite and three daughter satellites build the Furoshiki net. Robots transport solar cells and microwave transmitters on the net structure. A feasibility study was done to verify the performance of the Furoshiki net as well as the crawling robots.
Development of mobile mini robots for space application
Entwicklung von mobilen Minirobotern für Raumfahrtanwendungen
2006
7 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 6 Quellen
(+ 6 S. pdf-Datei)
Conference paper
English
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