Robot Research Heats Up: NASA Explores Volcano with Ground Robots
Carolyn Parcheta, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory works with VolcanoBot 1 exploring an inactive fissure on the active Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are using robots to explore volcanos on Earth to learn more about their underlying mechanisms and for potential applications exploring dangerous fissures on Mars and the moon.
“We don’t know exactly how volcanoes erupt,” says Carolyn Parcheta, a post doctoral fellow on the VolcanoBot project at JPL. “We have models, but they are all very, very simplified. This project aims to help make those models more realistic.”
National Geographic recently awarded Parcheta with $50,000 for her research as part of the Expedition Granted campaign designed to find the next “great explorer.”
“In the last few years, NASA spacecraft have sent back incredible pictures of caves, fissures and what look like volcanic vents on Mars and the moon,” says Parcheta’s co-advisor on the project, Aaron Parness. “We don’t have the technology yet to explore them, but they are so tantalizing! Working with Carolyn, we’re trying to bridge that gap using volcanoes here on Earth for practice.”
Last year the team used the VolcanoBot 1 to descend 82 feet inside fissures at the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii to map pathways of magma.
“In order to eventually understand how to predict eruptions and conduct hazard assessments, we need to understand how the magma is coming out of the ground,” says Parcheta. “This is the first time we have been able to measure it directly, from the inside, to centimeter-scale accuracy.”
The team is using data collected from the robot to make a 3-D map of the fissure. They found that, although the robot did not descend all the way during the first exploration, the fissure did not appear to close at the bottom.
In March of this year, they plan to use VolcanoBot 2, a smaller, lighter version of the robot to investigate further.
“It has better mobility, stronger motors and smaller wheels than the VolcanoBot 1,” says Parcheta. “We’ve decreased the amount of cords that come up to the surface when it’s in a volcano.”
The new robot has a 3-D sensor and an upgraded electrical connection that allows for navigation through a live video feed.
