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ROBODRESS - ROBOtic Construction with Found Materials: Rock DRESSing via Breaking and Reshaping

11 March 2025

Duration: 36 months

Objective

Human lunar colonization is a critical endeavor, requiring advanced robots capable of autonomously executing construction tasks essential for building infrastructure and habitation for human survival. To achieve this task, we propose a construction pipeline that utilizes locally available rocks. Our approach, built upon three steps, begins with resource analysis. Perceptive sensors assess the available material, allowing the user to select an optimal building target based on resource availability. The next step, and focus of our research effort, is boulder reshaping, where rocks are actively fractured into elements better suited for construction, and their assembly is optimized to create functional structures. Finally, building is achieved by using a robotic manipulator able to autonomously stack rocks. While drawing from successful prior research, our unique contribution lies in the rock-breaking phase, inspired by both mining and architectural processes.

Contract number
4000147724
Programme
OSIP Idea Id
I-2024-05361
Related OSIP Campaign
Open Discovery Ideas Channel
Budget
90000€
ROBODRESS - ROBOtic Construction with Found Materials: Rock DRESSing via Breaking and Reshaping