Optimizing aerobot exploration of Venus

View/ Open
Author
Ford, Kevin S.
Date
1997-03Advisor
Dell, Robert F.
Second Reader
Eagle, James N.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Venus Flyer Robot (VFR) is an aerobot—an autonomous balloon probe—designed
for remote exploration of Earth's sister planet in 2003. VFR's simple navigation and control
system permits travel to virtually any location on Venus, but it can survive for only a limited
duration in the harsh Venusian environment. To help address this limitation, we develop:
(1) a global circulation model that captures the most important characteristics of the Venusian
atmosphere; (2) a simple aerobot model that captures thermal restrictions faced by
VFR at Venus; and (3) one exact and two heuristic algorithms that, using abstractions (1)
and (2), construct routes making the best use of VFR's limited lifetime. We demonstrate
this modeling by planning several small example missions and a prototypical mission that
explores numerous interesting sites recently documented in the planetary geology literature.
Description
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited