Construction Companies and Mars

Robotics and automation applied in construction and civil engineering (on Earth and Mars)

The construction industry is increasingly using automation for the hard labor that goes into construction. There are many reasons, e.g., labor shortages, the dangerous nature of work, and economic pressures, to name only a few.

There is an additional reason for automation to become increasingly important. It is related to the successful Starship demo flight by SpaceX.

After the successful flight of the Starship, Mars missions in the transfer orbit windows are much more real than a year ago. Early uncrewed starship missions to Mars will need to establish infrastructure for human exploration. SpaceX will focus mostly on the cargo delivery part. Some of the payloads might need to be ready for the 2024 launch window. 

The need for robotic in-situ resource use is essential.  This discussion should support the process of creating specifications, designs, and simulations of crucial systems.  Eventually, the goal is to develop prototypes - proof of concept cyber-physical systems that can be tested on Earth.

Source: https://fortune.com/2019/11/23/construction-industry-robots-ai/

 Such companies as Build Robotics, Toggle, Doxel, Dusty Robotics, EKSO Bionics, or FBR offer automated construction systems. Are they going to participate in the early Mars projects? Those projects will need to build essential infrastructure on Mars in the following broad areas:

-        -  Power generation and power grid

-         - Resource acquisition processes, i.e., ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization)

-          -Propellant production

-          -Energy storage

-          -Robotic equipment maintenance

Source: http://www.builtrobotics.com

 

These are the essential areas before humans arrive on the red planet. The fuel necessary for the return trip has to be produced on Mars. Fuel production is a very power-intensive process that requires significant mining capabilities to reach the key raw material - water stored underground. The good news is that all elements needed to produce the propellant (methane and oxygen) are on Mars. The science of how to do it has been demonstrated and it works.

Now all the R&D has to be delivered to Mars and put together…
 

 

 #MarsInfrastructure #MarsConstruction

#Mars #roboticautomation #BuildRobotics #Toggle #Doxel #DustyRobotics #EKSOBionics #FBR
#ISPP #InsituPropellantProduction #ISRU
#InSituResourceUtilization #marsexploration #autonomoussystems #automation #civilengineering #civilengineeringdesign #roboticconstruction #robotics