cebars - The TETRAD

Transcription

cebars - The TETRAD

CEBARS Rough-Draft Overview
CEBARS
Community Education Behavioral Adjustment Retraining and Stabilization
Overview of an innovative, flexible, open-ended program for communities (including
educational, social service and law enforcement agencies) to assist youth, adults, and the
general population, including the long-term unemployed, as well as ex-offenders and repeatoffenders, in developing personal and social skills, education (with a focus upon science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, and the arts and crafts) for (re)introduction and
advancement in their families and communities.
Version 0.1
(begun) Tuesday, 6.March.2012
(released) Monday, March12, 2012
Martin Dudziak, PhD
Note: this version (0.1) is a set of “rough-hewn” notes. As a very simple document, without certain
figures and drawings as well, this will leave many open questions. Some of them are easily answered,
and some of them are indeed still “open.” The purpose of this early release is to provide specific leading
persons with the “core information” about the program, and in particular how it relates to work underway
presently which is desirable to continue. Note: there is no solicitation for funding or expenses in the
CEBARS program from public agencies or departments. This is an entirely privately-funded and probono program.
Key accompanying referential and background documents are listed in APPENDIX 1; these and more are
available online. Within APPENDIX 2 is information on the main project task proposed for CEBARS in
2012-2015, namely MOSES, a science project with global participation and impact, and one very well
suited by participation by the cultural and demographic diversity of participants within CEBARS.
Copyright © 2012 Martin Joseph Dudziak, PhD and the Institute for Innovative Study
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I – Executive Summary
The Problem Situation
Virtually every community, including many in Virginia and neighboring states of the USA, and at epidemic
levels in other countries, faces an extraordinary combination of four closely-coupled and interdependent
social problems that have severe implications for crime and violent crime in particular, and for the decline
of our fundamental social order, our rule of law, our social stability. CEBARS is a well-defined program to
mitigate the increase in crime and the repeat of offenses, especially those that are of a high-impact upon
children, youth and families, by creating a positive and reinforcing drive for self-esteem and selfactualization through an integration of science, technology and the arts. In spite of many admirable and
dedicated efforts by social service, judicial and law enforcement communities, and in spite of significant
expenditures of budgets in present times when budgets are being curtailed, these four problems are only
becoming worse and they are bringing more severe threats to overall community stabilization and
integrity. If we are unable to stem the tide, we will accelerate a slide into disorder and decadence with
highly unpredictable and uncontrollable consequences.
These four problems may be summarized as follows:
(1) Decline in educational interest, achievement, retention and lifelong use of fundamental areas of
learning, particularly in the domains of Critical Thinking and “STEM” (science, technology,
engineering and mathematics) by increasing numbers of the population. This is especially the
case among economically disadvantaged and minority population segments, and most
dramatically among separated or single-parent households where one or both parents have been
imprisoned for a variety of criminal and/or civil judgments.
(2) Rising and continued unemployment, underemployment and abandonment of employment efforts
by members of the population, especially among the aforementioned groups. This situation is
tightly coupled with concomitant rising disaffection and depression with respect to employment
and achievement hopes and goals, causing reduction in personal vocation ambitions, lifestyle
goals, and self-actualization hopes. One of the major consequences is a general angst and
sense of hopelessness that aids and abets actions of violence against self and others, abuse of
alcohol and drugs, petty and grand larceny, and acts of aggression toward family members and
friends, and especially toward children.
(3) Increase in repetitive crimes and a general “ambient” criminal lifestyle, particularly involving the
use of drugs, alcohol, and related abuses, and particularly linked with domestic violence, abuse,
and threats thereof, including DUI abuses of motor vehicle operation, prostitution, child abuse and
sexual abuse in general. Two major consequences of this include the decline of individual and
family stability, further impoverishment, and a general decline in critical and ethical thinking
among persons who are inherently intelligent and capable of living balanced lives if there can be
infused into their lifestyle a greater sense of worth, self-esteem, respect for self and others, and a
vision that there really can be “light at the end of the tunnel.”
(4) Declines in the outreach, connectivity, and general effectiveness of many traditional, conventional
programs – especially those offered by public service providers (e.g., DSS, DOH, Community
Mental Health, DCJ). This decline is due in great part to the three aforementioned major
problems coupled with the added “volatile accelerants” of long-term economic depression
affecting state and local budgets and the economic stability of the populations most affected and
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most in need of positive, innovative, appropriate support and reinforcement. The decline is not a
fault of the individuals and staff who are working on those programs, but the fact is simply that our
present society is overwhelmed with these problems, there are not enough resources, and
furthermore, many of these traditional approaches are lacking in one major respect – they do not
provide the engagement, the enthusiasm, the excitement, the positive reinforcement, that is
necessary for many individuals to build up the self-esteem and self-respect and long-term vision
that is necessary for them to want to really “climb out of the pit in which they have allowed
themselves to sink.”
CEBARS as a Different Tool and Pathway to Success
CEBARS is a program that can make a very significant change for some of these individuals and their
families. It “flies in the face” of many traditional views about how to conduct education, rehabilitation,
community readjustment and workforce retraining. It will be criticized as being unorthodox and nonstandard, and the emphasis upon such scientific and artistic domains such as involve space exploration
and off-planet development will at first seem to be unrealistic given today’s economic situation in
particular. However it can and will be demonstrated that CEBARS will not only work but that it is the best
approach to be taken in order to save our future generations. The central purpose of this overview white
paper is to outline how and why it can be successful where other programs, especially those that are
more “classroom” or “group encounter session” oriented, cannot work as well.
These rapidly increasing problems, as summarized into four categories above, are choking and stifling
both our general communities and the public service agencies that are trying their best to serve them.
The outlook now, in 2012, is not promising or encouraging at all. However, there is a remarkably positive
and innovative approach that can definitely “turn the tide” and produce dramatic, rapid, and measurement
effective – and lasting – results that serve everyone’s best interests and which can be a powerful “role
model” and “success story” for those communities and their governmental agencies that are bold, strong,
and willing to “give change a chance” for the benefit of everyone.
This new approach is CEBARS and it is described here in the context of one singular and very unique
implementation that will dominate the intial activites of the program. CEBARS is a program for
Community education, for Behavioral Adjustment, for workforce Retraining and for personal, familial and
social Stabilization. The historical development of CEBARS extends back in time for more than two
decades, arguably even longer, to work initiated in the context of community-based crisis counseling
volunteer services. There are several distinct “prototype” successes, and this history of work by several
closely collaborating individuals and groups encompasses “hands-on, feet on the ground” work as well as
formal studies. In short, CEBARS is not an “academic exercise” but a series of experiments and
experiences that have provided foundations for each next step forward. CEBARS does not put people,
willing or unwilling, into a purely classroom setting. It provides them ways to work as teams of 2, 3, 4, or
up to 7 people as a Team, and to do specific, tangible, physical (as well as academic and computerbased) tasks, and to Learn By Doing and by seeing the results all come together in the specific project
undertaken.
CEBARS also provides rewards, and it is modeled in part after successful science/education oriented
competitions that range from spelling bees to science fairs. Participants will have goals that are not only
abstract, not only “maybe in the future”, but measurable and with rewards that build social stamina and
esteem.
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Where have some of these prior projects been conducted? The following list provides a summary;
separate papers and reports are available for review about details of those projects.
USA
New York – volunteer-assisted after-school program focused on life sciences for high school students
Michigan – STEM and general education program for participants in community mental health program
(former inmates released from state hospitals)
Ohio – on-site weekend science lessons and experiments conducted at Battelle Laboratories
California – “On the Beach” and inner city programs for rehabilitating former drug users
Virginia – after-school and weekend programs that enabled inner-city high school students to participate
in such advanced experienced as using scanning probe (nanoscale) microscopes and virtual reality
computing
Texas – hands-on learning of environmental testing and monitoring for middle and high school students,
focusing upon sample collection in streams and wetlands
Louisiana – hands-on environmental testing in post-Katrina neighborhoods of New Orleans
Costa Rica – “Saño y Salvo” program involving middle and high school students and young adults with
internet-based project for providing advice, safe havens, and relief for persons suffering from abuse and
victimization, especially involving drugs and human trafficking for illicit sex and other purposes. Also, a
program focused upon instilling a spirit of innovation and open-ended creativity, for children of ages 8 and
up, using simple robotics.
Germany, Spain, Israel, Egypt, Russia, Japan, Jordan, Ukraine, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA –
participation by teams of diversified-age students in FUTURES GATEWAY, an online future-world
oriented competition to develop projects reflecting future lifestyles, technologies, and potential
breakthroughs – refer to additional documents and websites. These projects varied widely and were
deliberately very open-ended in order to instill a sense of freedom and independence of thinking among
each team and within each participant.
II - CEBARS Activities and Implementation
One of the critical tasks to advance education and training is to engage and sustain interest. Put a group
of people together into a classroom type setting where there are negative associations from the past and
combined with feelings of “I can’t” and general resentment over the environment, and there will not be as
good an outcome as if people are put together into a setting where they are physically doing something,
seeing the results of their learning, literally in hand, and where there is the ability to work as a team.
What is more fun? Standing alone shooting a basketball through the hoop or hitting the tennis ball
against the wall, or playing in an actual game of basketball or tennis?
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The CEBARS approach is to do so through having small teams of student-participants working together
on a project that is not just a “book exercise” but a project with physical, tangible results, with visibility,
and with the payoff that participants can feel that they are a genuine part of something bigger than
themselves and greater in value than doing book or computer exercises and taking some exams.
Enter MOSES – a project that is physical, concrete, and with high attraction and visibility for the public
worldwide. MOSES is about energy, environment, health, national and planetary security, and foremost,
it is about Space. Exploration, commercialization and space-based defense of no less than the whole of
planet Earth.
“MOSES” = Modular Organic-assembly Space-based Engineering System. It is a robotically
assembled and operated platform for conducting a variety of sequential and parallel operations, one of
the foremost being planetary defense against collisions from a variety of asteroids, comets and meteors.
APPENDIX 2 provides a rough-draft introduction to what MOSES entails.
A first reaction may be, from some readers, “This is impossible! Too complex, too difficult, too demanding,
too…” In fact, the situation is quite the opposite. Building a small-scale, on-the-ground demonstration
model of MOSES is precisely what will help people to get engaged and get excited about subjects like
math, geometry, earth science, space, mechanics, and a variety of both vocational and academic skills.
The nature of the project will provide for learning that goes hand-in-hand with hands-on doing and making
of simple components that illustrate how MOSES will work. There are no complex electronics or
computational components involved. There are no motors, no elaborate and detailed photovoltaics,
nothing that is in the real MOSES, but there will be everything needed to illustrate how MOSES will
operate, because things will be built with manual features that can be handled by people without the use
of advanced technology or skill sets.
Let’s remember who this is for, CEBARS and specifically the construction of a MOSES demo-prototype.
The target audience consists of youth from ages 12 and up, young adults, and middle-aged adults, and
senior-aged adults. Some are in high school, some are identified as being intelligent and brilliant and
without any social problems, and some are identified as being at-risk, or even juvenile/adult offenders
with criminal records. Some of the people are mentors and experts, and it is a pleasure to be able to say
that there are quite a few recognized figures from different disciplines who have volunteered to serve in
such mentorship capacities.
In some ways CEBARS is creating a learning environment that spans literally from GED through to
college-level and beyond, and indeed there are similarities with such programs as the Intel Science Fair,
the work of the X Prize Foundation and the international Academic Olympiad. Here in Virginia there is the
Mathematics and Science Center and every year competitions are help for middle/high school students to
create and submit projects, with aspirations of taking their projects to the state level and national level
and to the Inel-sponsored Science Fair where awards including even full scholarships are among the
possibilities. CEBARS will no doubt have something similar at for those who participate and keep going
all the way until the project – in this case the manual working prototype demo of MOSES – is completed.
The details will be worked out – it is just a matter of getting underway and not sitting still but going forward
into Action.
It is very important to remember the importance of participants being able to say to themselves and to
others, “Look at this! I did that! I learned this and made that and it works and it looks cool!” This is such
a big difference from sitting in a chair, listening to someone lecture and draw on the blackboard, and
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doing exercises, reading, and then taking exams in order to get a grade, a simple number. Here the
result is something that can be held, turned, given, and shown to others – including family and friends.
Moreover, MOSES as built through CEBARS is not going to be seen by only a few people in isolated
places. The whole project, even though barely stated and barely off the drawing board, is getting attention
in not only formal scientific and academic circles but also within the national media. This is very
important. People are going to be able to fo their work as participants and to be able to see what they
have made, with their minds and hands, getting media attention. Think of what this is going to do for selfesteem, for self-respect, for self-actualization, and for changing someone’s life around so that they are
not looking to the “street” and its drugs and crime for attention and affirmation and approval, but rather to
their brains and to their collaboration with others on creative, innovative, and ethically sound Work!
CEBARS is about People, not just “cool projects”
The reason for focusing upon MOSES and upon STEM topics in general is because these are the things
that will bet and most engage people to participate, to act, to be creative and to get excited. Recall the
fundamental goals: reduction in alcohol and drug abuse, reduction in bullying, reduction in petty and
grand larceny, reduction in DUI, reduction in domestic abuse and violence, reduction in many other
crimes both small and severe, non-violent and violent. And with these reductions, a positive surge in
genuine interest in things like science and math, and in vocational, mechanical workshop skills and
trades, and very important – an increase in self-esteem, self-worth, and having goals that one can believe
are attainable.
CEBARS, in any of its projects, will give participants not only ideas, concepts, and “book learning”
(whether in a book, a lecture or something on a computer screen), but also something that they can call
their own and that will be visible to others. It’s publicity and a moment to claim ownership for what one
has done. This is exactly what is needed for many people today, especially those who have been
abused, neglected, ignored, put down, bullied, and for whom “the American Dream” has often seemed to
be something far and forever out of reach, unattainable, closed-off behind a big stone wall.
Through CEBARS activities we can dissolve that wall and let people see that they can get attention,
recognition, praise and reward as Persons, as Individuals, and that one does not have to either “give up
and surrender” to depression and hopelessness, nor go the route of criminal activities in order to have
meaning and a sense of worth in life.
We all need attention, recognition, esteem, respect. Especially when we are young and getting our first
steps out into the World. Here in CEBARS, and especially with a “hot shot” project like MOSES, we have
the means not only to energize and empower some individuals into a direction totally differently from that
which leads down, down, down to low self-esteem, depression and hopelessness, and thereafter to
become an abuser, an addict, a criminal, a derelict, but also we can build and distribute a Model that can
be used in many communities worldwide.
Specifics
The first undertaking within CEBARS will have a very open-ended and growing team of students and
learners participating under the guidance and management of experienced professionals and mentors
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who come with backgrounds in several complementary and necessary disciplines. The network of small
teams will construct a demonstration model, a working prototype albeit with manual simulation and
operation, of MOSES. All of the seven fundamental operational categories will be demonstrated, visually,
for people to see and understand, albeit manually.
How will this be accomplished, with teams that are physically diverse in different communities and indeed
countries, and with the claim that this can be done with practically no budget in comparison to other major
scientific projects? First we begin, literally, with the equivalent of sticks, strings, and sheets. Yes, we will
be using everyday simple materials. We begin with wood, cloth, pastic, cabling, wires, and some “nuts
and bolts.” Also, we begin with some basic elementary arithmetic, geometry, and classical science., ibn
the process training and teaching earth sciences, computers, elementary physics, chemistry and biology,
and Space – yes, Space, the Final Frontier.
Organizationally, CEBARS is organized and ready to start work immediately. The infrastructure is set up,
the volunteers are assembling and training, and materials, tools and a workplace are being prepared.
Restatement of the Problems and the Solutions Offered
Given the problems as presented in the Executive Summary, compounded by an extensive and
continuing economic depression that affects especially the middle and lower income segments of the
American population, we are experiencing and will continue to experience declines in education levels,
performance and achievement in areas of STEM fields and especially where innovation, discovery and
advancement are involved.
The following areas are critical for not only the USA but for the entire free, democratic-aspiringk, nonradical world, and indeed for the entire planet of all our diverse societies. We are a totally globalinterconnected, global-interdependent society. Unless we properly, effectively and speedily address our
needs and deficits in these fundamental areas, we face everything from stagnation and backsliding into a
new “Dark Age” period. To the very real and imminent risk of civilization’s collapse and the extinction of
life as we know it and have known it in our lifetimes and in those of the past fifty generations.
Here is what MOSES, the first focus of CEBARS, will provide, and this is what we need to be working on
today, not putting off to undefined future decades and centuries. But remember please! Within CEBARS,
right now, we are building mock-up, demonstrable prototypes of how this will work – we are not going to
initially produce the full-scale launchable system! However, by doing the former, and by raising
population awareness and consciousness, we will be able to get the full MODES assembled, launched,
and operational within a timeframe already worked on rigorously, one that has a potential launch date as
early as 2013:
ASTRIC
Used for ASTRIC functions, MOSES is deployed to operate as a self-powered robotic net that
will use its cabling and panes to wrap itself around an object such as a small asteroid or some
piece of space debris. Then, by use of the tnodes (tetranodes) and their manipulation of the
cabling, this “captured” or “contained” object can be either moved or have some critical aspects
of its trajectory altered. The most obvious and significant such trajectory alteration would be to
alter the trajectory of an asteroid that would be on a collision course with the Earth, doing such
modifications as are necessary for the object to either miss hitting the earth or else having a
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new course that will cause it to burn up completely or sufficiently so as to cause less damage
and loss of life on Earth.
CBRAS
Using the SAP modules that are attached as part of MOSES, in –space or on-planet surveying,
observation, and sensing for specific chemicals, biological agents, or radioactive substances is
conducted. The operations are powered by the photovoltaic power generation of the MOSES
sheet. Some of the sensor technologies that may be used for CBRAS operations include
variations of PAS and RePAS using lasers as well as FTIR for short-range applications.
Essentially, the core suite of technologies are those which are employed today for aerial as well
as astrophysical exploration.
CMEMP
This is a critical and highly advanced defense operation for protecting regions of Earth from
either natural (i.e., solar discharge) or intentional (i.e., nuclear weapon discharge)
electromagnetic pulses (EMP) that can be extremely disruptive to electronics including
computers and communication devices. Using a special SAP module designed for this purpose
and kept “charged” by the power generated through the MOSES sheet, MOSES will generate a
counter-pulse, along the principles of noise-cancellation but in this case using an
electromagnetic burst, that will mitigate and disrupt the EMP that is a threat. The capability of
MOSES will be limited in comparison to some possible EMP events, but it can nonetheless be
effective at reducing an EMP catastrophe on Earth.
EMPGT
Given the ability of MOSES to adjust individual panes and larger panels, regions and the entire
positioning of the main sheet, MOSES is an optimal architecture for generating electrical power
that can be then beamed, for instance as a microwave laser (maser) yo other points in space, or
to any specific (and even mobile) reception point on Earth. This enables MOSES to be a rapiddeployment power generator and transmitter for emergency applications where power has been
severely disrupted on Earth. Align the sheet, generate the power, and beam it through one of
the SAPs to a particular point on the planet.
EOM
Using different SAPs, MOSES can be emp,oyed for round-the-clock permanent observation and
monitoring of a variety of Earth-based (or Moon—based) environmental conditions. With
respect to Earth, the main focus areas will include monitoring of climate change, vegetation,
chemical spills, storms, tsunamis, and illicit operations ranging from logging to chemical and
industrial pollution.
RSBE
The SAP modules employed for these operations will provide for safe, off-planet, roboticmaintained experimentation with both natural and synthetic biological organisms. MOSES
provides the power through its sheet, and the experiments are controlled by experimenters on
Earth or in another space vehicle (e.g., ISS). Thus, MOSES provides the ‘ultimate biohazard
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clean room” for potentially dangerous experiments such as modifications to natural viral strains
or experiments with synthetic organisms.
SAC
As a reconfigurable large-scale and divisible set of regions and panels making up a singular
sheet, and with options for different types of SAP units that can include robotic arms, MOSES
can be employed in a variety of ways for space-based assembly and construction of other
structures including manned stations and colonies, as well as very large scale power generation
systems.
Comments on Space Exploration, Commercialization, Security, and National Space Programs
Given our economic problems and our political/social fragmentation, as a planetary society and also
within nations such as the USA, there can be huge questions about how we can proceed to work
effectively on what may be termed, “Manhattan” or “Bletchley Park” scale projects. Big ones, involving
many diverse people and skill sets. Let’s consider just one country that has been a leader in space
science and exploration, the USA. America has, unfortunately, virtually dropped off the map in terms of
new space exploration, development and commercialization. The nation is in deep risk of losing not only
its former long-standing leadership and prowess in space technology, and a solid presence among
countries that are active in space projects, but we are slipping even further beyond other nations that
arguably have less than planetary, unified goals in mind – for instance, China, Russia, and even Iran.
Furthermore, it is arguable that space engineering and systems, both manned and unmanned, are critical
now and in the future for not only “space” per se but also for other important dimensions of industrial,
manufacturing, medical, and even consumer electronics business, because of the importance to conduct
certain types of work (e.g., some nanoscalar manufacturing and some important but dangerous synthetic
biology research) in the low/zero gravity and the safety of outer space.
MOSES is just one system, one project, one new Beginning. However, it is one of the most, and arguably
the most, practical and feasible project on which persons in the CEBARS program can work and really
accomplish something that will stand out in their lives, among their peers, and be of definite long-term
benefit for America and the World. Simple, bold, clear, and defensible, this is our main point. A true
“STEM” project that can be effectively started (and is already started) with a minimalist budget, minimalist
resources including tools, materials and workspace, with some low-tech and some very high-tech tools
(already donated, for instance, a “3D printer” system for making plastic physical models based upon 3D
(“CAD”) computer data), and all of this being done in a manner that attracts and pulls in the interest,
support and international collaboration of many participants and expert mentors.
MOSES is the centerpiece, the focal work of the young, global initiative known as the ECOADUNA
Programme (described at http://ecoaduna.instinnovstudy.org/forum and other websites). MOSES is not
only the centerpiece but literally the platform, the physical base, for several other ECOADUNA projects,
all of which are open to and purposively designed to sustain and nurture CEBARS activities. The name,
“ECOADUNA”, comes from the synthesis of “economics,” “ecosystem,” and “coadunatio” (the Latin word
for “bringing and gathering together things, people, objetcs, ideas, that together form a whole, a system, a
synergy”).
What CEBARS (and the ECOADUNA Programme as a whole) needs now, today, in early 2012, is
something that can be physically seen, shown, and demonstrated, here on Earth, not only technical
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papers, reports, exam scores, computer simulations, and visual “virtuals.” This “special something” starts
literally with wood, plastic, textiles, metal wires and cables, nuts and bolts, and very ordinary, everyday
“Home Depot” hardware. This starts with design and fabrication that is done with hand tools and power
tools and yes, some sophisticated ones including computers, but all – ALL – things and methods that can
be learned, understood, and used by anyone with a keen mind and a desire to better themselves, to “get
out of any hole or crack in which they happened to fall into during life.” For many people, those holes and
cracks originated with childhood neglect and abuse. For others, it was some problem or problems during
adolescence or adulthood. For some it was connected with health, with loss of employment, with bad
judgments and unforgiving, unrelenting other people and institutions.
Now back to MOSES as a physical project being made by people, by teams that are also diverse in their
geography as well as their membership demographics. At first MOSES is literally and purely a Model, but
one large enough to be seen by and to impress many other people, even from a distance – outdoors. In
carefully planned stages already prepared, the Model becomes increasingly, step by step, realistic and
functional in several important respects so that anyone and everyone seeing it, touching it, can
understand how it works.
This is why the MOSES prototype starts out large enough to span a basketball court but small enough to
be packed up and hauled from one demo site to another in a pickup truck. This is why this first MOSES
can be lifted aloft into the sky by a hot air balloon, for instance, and carried aloft at a low altitude for some
very realistic, live, in-the-air demos so that people can see how it can be manipulated and controlled
remotely by not only its own computers and robots but by someone who is operating an interface with
today’s consumer communications and gaming technology (e.h., iPad, iPhone, Android, Kinect). It is
important to recognize that all of the technologies that will be employed in the first “manual, on-ground,
demo version” of MOSES is being designed and built with existing, proven, post-research, postcommercialization components. This is very important. Among other things it enables many types of
persons to “jump in” to the project without having a steep learning curve, since sl many of the
components are already quite familiar through everyday use.
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The MOSES Project Team is set to commence work on Phase 1 of the overall task as soon as possible,
aiming for an official start date of April 5, 2012. We are set to engage a number of individuals as
volunteers and suppliers of different resources including labor. This is precisely the best type of project
for serving critical, under-nourished community education, workforce retraining, and at-risk or postoffense (including repeat offender) juvenile and adult individuals.
MOSES is simply “just right” and “just what the doctor ordered” for meeting important, growing needs in
almost all of our communities, large or small, urban or rural.
All of this activity needs to start somewhere, physically, geographically, and simply, to “Get Going and
Just DO IT.” Talk and discussion, evaluation and further re-evaluation, can go on and on ad infinitum.
Simply because some organizations and entities, especially those of a political nature, often seem to
become mired in the quicksands and tar pits of endless talk and no action, does not mean that MOSES,
and the entire CEBARS program, needs to follow, lemming-like, to the same ill end of inaction and
stagnation. Meanwhile, great city-killer and country-killer rocks like Apophis and still-undetected asteroids
are hurtling at thousands of miles per hour toward possible collision with our planet Earth which is
presently our only Home. There is no “emergency shelter” for an Apophis scale event on Earth. There is,
however, MOSES as an emergency protector for the planet.
Join with us and let us build together MOSES, starting with the equivalent of LEGO, KBEX and Erector
set components. Then go with us as we show the whole world, not only through YouTube videos and
computer models, but concretely, visually, in a touch-and-feel way, how the real MOSES works and how
important it is for our Future.
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III – Solution and Implementation Summary
The reader is refered to APPENDIX 2 for material describing MOSES itself as a system. In this section
we want to make a few points clear about the topic of “how it will all be done.” We can build the MOSES
prototype starting with a small and distributed crew of volunteers using basic building materials and tools
that are familiar to anyone who has ever, built, repaired, or maintained a home. There will be at least one
physical place for parts fabrication and assembly. In fact, we propose that there should be two teams
with two places for work, one in or near Richmond, Virginia, and one in or near Bogota, Colombia. The
reasons for these two locations as “hubs” has to do with the presence of “pioneer innovator people” who
are the founders and initiators, and the mentors, and the volunteer learner-participants. This initial dual
focus (not to block any third, fourth, and subsequent other “hubs”, will be very valuable for bridging a
number of thresholds and removing old-style, old-era paradigms about age, sex, ethnicity and nationality,
economic status, and other inappropriate discriminators. CEBARS is about women and men, children
and adults of all ages, white and black, English-speaking and non-English-speaking, pre-college
education and postgraduate education.
How will the first version of MOSES be constructed? It will be a single array (sheet) of panes that consist
of nodes (“tnodes”) and pane fabrics. This will result ina quilt-like structure that will resemble a real
MOSES array. What matters very much is that this array can be manually manipulated to take on
different contours, different topologies. There will be no full-scale photovoltaic power generation and
storage. There will be no cable extension/retraction motors, and there will be no thrusters to cause
movement. Initially, everything will be managed manually. But the entire array, the Sheet, will be able to
be reshaped and contoured from convex to concave and with ripples and waves in the structure, as it will
be done automatically and electronically, and with thrusters, in actual space-based operations.
Thus, tnodes will be made of polyethylene or wood or both, with screws and epoxy cement and angle
brances. Thruster and cable retractor components will be replicated with plastic or wood elements for the
proper visual effects. Remember that the initial version is to show people how it will appear, and to be
giving the learner-participants reasonable things to do, to learn, and to gain a sense of accomplishment
from the construction.
[ Several figures go here with short explanations ]
The cable wires between tnodes will be adjustable, using small screw and clamp mechanisms. In a
manner similar to the actual design, the tcables will be inserted through wrap-around loops on the pane
fabrics. Indeed this means that changing the geometry of the Sheet will require a lot of small
adjustments, but that is alright for the purposes of the first version model. The pane fabrics may be
ordinary materials, but there will be replication of image and effect of the photovoltaic and mirrored panes,
again for realism. Some of the panes will actually be polymer-based photovoltaic surfaces and they will
operate and generate power that can be stored and then used to operate small instruments. Once again,
this is about “show and tell” and not about creating the first launchable system.
12
There will be more material in subsequent versions of this document, concerning
specific dimensions of each pane and each tnode, as well as about schedule, budget,
and personnel.
In the interests of getting this initial information out ot the right audience as soon as
possible, those data sections are being omitted in this “pre-pre-release” version. Time
is of the essence and what is given above should be adequate for people to understand
the basics.
Do we have a schedule? Yes. Is there a budget? Yes. Approximately $64,000 in total,
including the costs for taking the entire MOSES array on a “road tour” to a few cities.
Are mechanisms in place and are processes underway to secure this budget from
grants and contributions? Yes, absolutely. How far along are we? Around the $10K
mark. However, there may be a big boost from some private contributions and special
awards in the next few months, in perfect timing with the projected pace of activities.
13
APPENDIX 1
Supportive Prior Documents and Web-based References
These are provided online at the following URL:
http://cebars.instinnovstudy.org/supporting-social-documents
This list will gradually grow and for now it is a simple list of downloadable files.
14
APPENDIX 2
Supportive MOSES Documentation
MOSES is a space-based (and optionally high-altitude-based), unmanned platform that is designed to
serve multiple functions which relate to space-based engineering and the operation of several different
categories of operation that may be conducted both sequentially and in parallel. The MOSES platform
consists of an array of small, uniform components that are connected by extensible/retractable cables
that are also the edges of flexible triangular panes. These panes, and the complete array of panes
constituting one MOSES platform, constitute mobile surfaces that are used for photovoltaic power
generation or visible/infrared light reflection or (in certain operations) for physical wrapping and collecting
of a variety of objects. Such “target” objects for gathering or for trajectory reorientation include both
natural and man-made objects. In both cases these objects may be either parts of an assembly
(construction) process or else they may pose a threat for collision with another space object (e.g., satellite
or space station) or for collision with Earth.
These categories of operation, listed here, are described within this document and they comprise the
seven interconnected and interchangeable types of operations that can be conducted with the MOSES
platform:
•
ASTRIC
Astronomical Object Retrieval, Intervention and Countermeasures
•
CBRAS
Chemical, Biological and radioactive Agent Surveying, Observation and Sensing (CBRASOS)
•
CMEMP
EMP Countermeasure by Counterpulse
•
EOM
Environmental Observation and Monitoring
•
EMPGT
Electromagnetic Power Generation and Transmission
•
RSBE
Remote Synthetic Biology Experimentation
•
SAC
Space-based Assembly and Construction
Each of these categories of operations is described in Section III.
15
MOSES is a system designed primarily for use in orbital space regions around the Earth, moon or other
astronomical bodies including asteroids and other planets. The development of MOSES is planned as
the primary, focal project of the ECOADUNA Programme which is an international programme designed
to produce results such as MOSES by the interaction and collaboration of many institutions and
individuals from an open global community.
The term, “MOSES”, is derived from the fact that the entire system is highly modular, and it is assembled
and physically developed in a manner that can be termed “organic” rather than “mechanistic.” It is spacebased in its operations, but there is a way to employ MOSES in high-altitude situations using balloons
and aircraft as support vehicles. It is an engineering system, because it is designed to provide the means
to conduct different types of engineering, as evidenced by the major categories of operation that have
been listed above..
[THERE IS MORE TO COME FOR HERE IN SUBSEQUENT VERSIONS]
Section II – MOSES Formal Architectural Definition
MOSES is a very flexible sheet or plane of segmented components and it is principally a flat structure that
unfolds and self-assembles once it has been brought by a launch or carrier vehicle to its primary location
for deployment. There are optionally one or two additional components that extend above and below the
primary sheet (array) and which can be manipulated in their positions as well. Within the set of Figures 1
through 5 are provided artist renditions of how MOSES appears from different views. The highly
abstracted image in Figure 1 is intended to provide a very rough sense of the general geometry of
MOSES, although it should be understood that the main array is not necessarily square (it may be closer
to a circle, or an ellipse, or any of several polygons that can be composed of a finite number of triangular
components), and there is no solid exterior surface as is the case with the crystal structure of Figure 1.
Figure 1 – the abstract MOSES model
16
Figure 2 –the MOSES sheet model
Figure 3 – the MOSES 3D model showing the SAP
Figure 4 –MOSES launch structure unwrapping itself and deploying
17
Figure 5 –MOSES tnode (tetranode) component
Brief Formal Definitions and Descriptions of Components
MOSES is assembled from two fundamental types of components or “building blocks” – panes and nodes
that connect the panes.
A pane (pn) is a unit structure made of a pane fabric, three tnodes and three tcables. The pane fabric is a
flexible triangular segment of material that can have one or more different properties, including an OLEDtype polymer photovoltaic generating surface or a mirrored material for high-intensity reflection of light.
For one example, there is CIGS photovoltaic technology, and for another, there is the polymer materials
produced by Konarka and other companies.
A node is termed a tetranode or tnode (tn) and this is the tetrahedron-shaped unit to which panes are
attached through high-strength composite-material cabling that runs through loops on the slides of the
pane. Each node has four thrusters, one in the center of each face of the tnode, and four motors for
extending and retracting cables from each of the vertices of the tnode.
A tcable (tc) is a high-performance, composite-material-based cable that is extensible and retractable
through the operations of motors that is in the tnode(s) to which the tcable is connected. Tcables run
through loops that are on the sides of each pane, and they run from tnode vertiex to tnode vertex.
18
A panel (pnl) is a contiguous group of panes. There is no fixed size or other requirements but a panel is a
section of more than one pane and corresponding tnodes that can be moved separately as a unit.
Although there is no requirement that the panes within a panel be all of the same type, that would be the
usual case.
A region (reg) is a contiguous set of panels. Again there are no absolute fixed requirements for uniformity
of the pane surfaces and functions, but it would be the usual case for all panels in a given region to be
similar.
A sheet (sh) is a contiguous set of regions that comprise the entirely of the MOSES main platform,
excluding any SAP units. The sheet essentially defines the entire platform that makes up one MOSES
installation.
A SAP (Sensor-Actuator-Pod.Platform) is a specialized and interchangeable unit that is positioned above
and/or below the center of the sheet. It is adapted to hold multiple instruments including those for
sensing (optical, other EM frequencies) and also equipment such as an adjustable-frequency laser that
can be used for actions on nearby or far-away targets. Each SAP is entirely powered electronically
and/or optically (e.g., acting as a lens for light focused on its inside base from the sheet or some regions
thereof0. Each SAP is equipped with one ion propulsion engine and two thrusters for movement in sync
with various tnodes of the entire system of sheet plus tnodes, when the entire MOSES platform needs to
be moved as a whole. Such movements may be for reorientation or for linear, longer-distance translation
movement. There is a maximum of two SAPs for each MOSES platform, although others can be
maintained by a tethering mechanism, in storage for future use by replacement of current-position SAPs.
Each SAP is connected to 4 tnodes with retractable, adjustable tensegrity cables.
The following may aid in understanding the relations between MOSES components and the manners in
which the system is both assembled and disassembled.
•
Three tnodes, three tcables, and one pane fabric make up a pane.
•
An indefinite number (n) of panes make up one panel.
•
An indefinite number (p) of panels makes up one region.
•
An indefinite number (r) of regions makes up one sheet.
•
One sheet plus one or more SAPs make a complete MOSES.
19
Section III – MOSES Categories of Operation
ASTRIC
Used for ASTRIC functions, MOSES is deployed to operate as a self-powered robotic net that will use its
cabling and panes to wrap itself around an object such as a small asteroid or some piece of space debris.
Then, by use of the tnodes (tetranodes) and their manipulation of the cabling, this “captured” or
“contained” object can be either moved or have some critical aspects of its trajectory altered. The most
obvious and significant such trajectory alteration would be to alter the trajectory of an asteroid that would
be on a collision course with the Earth, doing such modifications as are necessary for the object to either
miss hitting the earth or else having a new course that will cause it to burn up completely or sufficiently so
as to cause less damage and loss of life on Earth.
CBRAS
Using the SAP modules that are attached as part of MOSES, in –space or on-planet surveying,
observation, and sensing for specific chemicals, biological agents, or radioactive substances is
conducted. The operations are powered by the photovoltaic power generation of the MOSES sheet.
Some of the sensor technologies that may be used for CBRAS operations include variations of PAS and
RePAS using lasers as well as FTIR for short-range applications. Essentially, the core suite of
technologies are those which are employed today for aerial as well as astrophysical exploration.
CMEMP
This is a critical and highly advanced defense operation for protecting regions of Earth from either natural
(i.e., solar discharge) or intentional (i.e., nuclear weapon discharge) electromagnetic pulses (EMP) that
can be extremely disruptive to electronics including computers and communication devices. Using a
special SAP module designed for this purpose and kept “charged” by the power generated through the
MOSES sheet, MOSES will generate a counter-pulse, along the principles of noise-cancellation but in this
case using an electromagnetic burst, that will mitigate and disrupt the EMP that is a threat. The capability
of MOSES will be limited in comparison to some possible EMP events, but it can nonetheless be effective
at reducing an EMP catastrophe on Earth.
EMPGT
Given the ability of MOSES to adjust individual panes and larger panels, regions and the entire
positioning of the main sheet, MOSES is an optimal architecture for generating electrical power that can
be then beamed, for instance as a microwave laser (maser) yo other points in space, or to any specific
(and even mobile) reception point on Earth. This enables MOSES to be a rapid-deployment power
generator and transmitter for emergency applications where power has been severely disrupted on Earth.
Align the sheet, generate the power, and beam it through one of the SAPs to a particular point on the
planet.
20
EOM
Using different SAPs, MOSES can be emp,oyed for round-the-clock permanent observation and
monitoring of a variety of Earth-based (or Moon—based) environmental conditions. With respect to
Earth, the main focus areas will include monitoring of climate change, vegetation, chemical spills, storms,
tsunamis, and illicit operations ranging from logging to chemical and industrial pollution.
RSBE
The SAP modules employed for these operations will provide for safe, off-planet, robotic-maintained
experimentation with both natural and synthetic biological organisms. MOSES provides the power
through its sheet, and the experiments are controlled by experimenters on Earth or in another space
vehicle (e.g., ISS). Thus, MOSES provides the ‘ultimate biohazard clean room” for potentially dangerous
experiments such as modifications to natural viral strains or experiments with synthetic organisms.
SAC
As a reconfigurable large-scale and divisible set of regions and panels making up a singular sheet, and
with options for different types of SAP units that can include robotic arms, MOSES can be employed in a
variety of ways for space-based assembly and construction of other structures including manned
stations and colonies, as well as very large scale power generation systems.
21
THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL COMES FROM EARLIER AND VERY ROUGH, CRUDE
OUTLINES AND NOTES REGARDING ONLY THE ASTRIC CATEGORIY OF MOSES
OPERATIONS.
=====================================================
=====================================================
Design Workbook for ASTRIC Project (and suggested Planetary Society Prize)
Version 1.0
Begun 31.Aug.2007
Last Edit 5.Dec.08 mjd
1
31.Aug.07 notes
This is more about geometry + carbon (nanotubes + graphites) + computing than about anything
difficult or exotic in terms of space flight and satellite missions.
The basic idea is not so strange and people have been using this concept in engineering for more than
six thousand years – torque, leveraging some beam on a fulcrum:
1
Not to worry, Apophis is only 350 – 415m long, and besides, all indicators are that it will miss the Earth.
22
A single ASTRIC vehicle (ASTRIC-Pod) is put earth-launched and moved into position near the target
(asteroid). The Pod separates into four or more components, ASTRIC-Seeds. Structurally these all are all
designed so that there are no excess or unused parts of the Pod – this is conceptually like a 3d puzzle –
the Seed pieces all fit together in such a way that their outer shells or skins are part of the Pod or
otherwise internal – nothing is just left “hanging” in space, nor is there excess vehicle weight.
The Seeds maneuver into a configuration known as the “Capture Position.” In doing so, a high-strength
carbon nanotube composite net is stretched across the target in such a way that there is now tension in
the net which is linked in its end vertices with the seeds. Think of the Seeds as being basically selfpropelled satellites that are spools of thread. Their movements to release the graphite lines that make
up the Net are essentially spool unwinding movements.
At this point, the geometry of the configuration of Target + Net + Seeds is known and can be thoroughly
simulated. Under command from earth-based control, the Seeds exert force by local thrusters in order
to leverage (by the fulcrum principle, a classical torque application, using the Net) the orientation of the
Target into a new orientation that will cause the Target to either miss the earth entirely, burn up, or
have an impact that is less catastrophic.
This design offers several specific advantages:
More fine-control than by simple impacts, nearby presence (and reliance upon some local gravitational
pull involving the mission vehicle and the target), or explosive force.
More control and opportunity for multi-axis influence on the target than by one vehicle only.
More fault-tolerance in that there will still be some utility to having fewer operating mission vehicles in
the even of the failure of one, as opposed to zero effectiveness if there is only one vehicle and it fails.
23
Fig. 1-a Original deployment model for ASTRIC
Additions and new material 5.Dec.08
Two types of technology are in ASTRIC.
One is the use of simple gravity from the multiple (4, 8, more) operand units (previously referred to as
“seeds”), arranging themselves in a configuration around the object.
The second is the above use of the Net that is spun between the seeds and used to further adjust the
course of the asteroid by means of a Tensegrity operation.
In order to maximize the versatility of the ASTRIC system (assembly), all of the operands are connectable
in a manner similar to Knex or similar erector-lego type sets, in the following way:
24
An operand is a tetrahedron in shape. Each can bind to another by any face. The binding is performed
by bringing the units close together and then electromagnets are activated and these finish the final
connection into position. At this time servomotors activate a reversible toggle bolt mechanism that
latches the two surfaces in a way that exact fitting is not so critical and getting stuck in the bound
condition is not a serious possibility – it is important to be able to pull any two operands apart. The
operands start out in a bound configuration but that may be arranged as groups of four in order to fit
well into the lift vehicle.
Cables (made of carbon nanofibres bound up like suspension bridge cables, in subassemblies that are
then woven into larger subassemblies) are reeled out and pulled in from the operands by small motors
that are run by batteries which are kept charged by one or more solar panels that are part of the ASTRIC
main operand (like a mother ship) that is from where the operands emerged after the whole ship
reached its primary waypoint after leaving Earth. These cables can be routed through any one of the
four corners (vertices) of the tetrahedron in an interesting manner. The cable has two ends, obviously.
Call its total length Ltot and its effective operating (extension) length, Ltot – some amount that is bound to
be wrapped up in the internal mechanism, to be Leff. If the vertices are A, B, C and D, then the cable can
be extended in the following way:
A max. of Leff from vertex A, B, C, or D, then retracted and deployed again from another, and so on –
deployments are not permanent or final.
A max. of Leff/2 from any two vertices at the same time.
A max. of d1 < Leff/2 and a max. of d2 > Leff/2 from any two vertices at the same time.
There can be two cables per operand. A given two-cable full deployment (extension) configuration
could be any of the combinations:
(I)
{A,B}, {A,C}, {A,D}, {B,C}, {B,D}, {C,D}
where in each case each cable is deployed to Leff fully from each of the vertices indicated by
{v1, v2}
25
(II)
{AB,CD}, {AC,BD}, {AD,BC}, where in each pairing of vertices there is a combination of cable deployments
such that the total is a maximum of Leff.
Cables may thus be deployed from 0 – 4 vertices of a given operand unit. Some operands may have no
cables connecting them. It is to be determined still if cables should be able to meet in the middle of
space where each has one end at an operand and the free ends connect with each other – this will be
more complicated to engineer but it would offer the possibility that a cable extension between two
operands could be up to 2*Leff in length.
What is at the end of the cable? A connector that can attach to either:
The connector at the end of another cable, from the same operand or from another one.
The connector at a vertex of another operand.
Operands can move by means of two mechanisms:
1. Being pulled or even pushed by another operand, including by the use of the cables that can be
connecting them, and remember that any two or more operands can be connected by more than one
cable from each other. Any operand can be connected by four cables from its vertices.
2. Self-propulsion. There are nozzles in the centers of the four faces. If the body of the operand, the
remaining space inside the faces, apart from the instruments and the cable mechanisms, can be used for
fuel storage using metal hydride for hydrogen, for instance, then the operand can have a simple gas
propulsion system; otherwise some other type of small rocket mechanism can be employed.
The point is that the operands are maneuverable in a 5-axis type of versatility, with or without any
cables extended or connected.
26
All of this is designed in order that the network of operands can be deployed in virtually any
configuration among themselves. By having this versatility, the network can be arranged in the vicinity
of an asteroid in a manner that with or without the use of the cabling system, and relying upon either
local gravitational attraction among objects, or mechanical work among the objects using the cabling
network and the self-propulsion capabilities of each operand, the asteroid can be adjusted in its 5-axis
orientation, thereby altering its path through space and avoiding a collision with Earth.
Fig. 1-b Deployment of operand units from ASTRIC delivery vehicle. Note that the delivery (“mother”)
vehicle, indicated here by the cylinder at upper left, may itself be one of the operands.
The deployment of cables must involve some controllable unit at the end of the cables, and this has not
been addressed in notes above. There are a few different ways this can be done, including microjets
and magnetic elements. But this connecting process has to be done with the two operands involved for
a given connection being close to one another, and then the cable between them can be “spun out”
once the two ends are linked.
Given the deployment of the operands and cables, a mesh is over the asteroid in a manner allowing for
controlled 5-axis reorientation of the asteroid by the coordinated movements (rocket firings) of 1-n
operands. This is what the following figure (2, below) illustrates. It is not necessary to have a densely
woven array but only to have sufficiently strong and strategically placed lines. The principle of operation
for moving the asteroid is to act upon several points at once, applying force in several key vectors, as
roughly illustrated by figure 3. Such coordinated actions can be performed in a variety of stages and
27
sequences, for changing pitch, roll, yaw orientation of the object, and for influencing the primary
trajectory which is the main objective.
Fig. 2 More current ASTRIC model illustrating deployment of cables
28
Fig. 3 Simple representation of coordinated push-pull actions
Engineering issues
Power for maneuvering the operands (tetrahedron units). Engine type and fuel.
Weight of the operands.
Cable material.
Cable deployment and connectivity, including cable movement from one unit to another.
Packing and disassembly of the operands from the main vehicle.
Use of supplementary solar power generators.
Packing and deployment of such supplementary units.
Communication with Earth base.
29
Communication between operands.
Real-time modification and adjustment to the pre-mission simulation and control programs.
What is the pre-mission mapping that is possible for understanding the geometry and the materials of
the asteroid? We need to understand accurately not only its surface geometry but its composition in
order to understand the concentrations of mass in different regions. We can surely make good
estimates but they will almost assuredly be off by some percentage points and this will significantly
affect the ways that the operands and the net/mesh can effectively change the orientations and the
trajectory of the object.
Many simulations can be run and compared. Many “job control” sequences can be set up and ready,
depending upon detailed findings once the ASTRIC mission has reached the vicinity of the asteroid. But
the success is going to depend upon high-speed reaction and adaptation. This implies having powerful
processing and also data resources onboard, namely in the “mother vehicle” plus very high-speed and
uninterruptible communications with supercomputing resources on Earth.
=====================================================
=====================================================
ASTRIC (Astrophysical Reconnaissance, Intervention and Control) Program
Command, Control and Communication Language
(ASTRICOL, ASL, ASTRA)
M. Dudziak
January, 2009
The functions of ASTRIC components (e.g., a tetrad capsule) are of two basic types:
30
movement (consisting of a change in the orientation or location of a component including
countermovements to offset some external force applied to a component)
activation (consisting of the operating of some device or instrument that is part of the component, such
as the release and extension of a tethering or grappling cable)
This is the world of ASTRIC – components break apart, move, reassemble, and do things in space, by
themselves or as part of an array (network) comprised by several components, with or without the use
of equipment that is an internal part of a component or an externalizable part that is in some fashion
separated or else linked between components. Another way to think of ASTRIC behavior is in terms of
the phenomenological behavior of molecules. They move, they come apart, come together, and
sometimes exchange things among themselves.
By keeping the language as simple as possible, planning and programming ASTRIC missions will be
easier. Ultimately, ASTRA is a language for describing behaviors of many distinct and different units, and
these descriptions then need to be translated into the languages of specific devices that implement
those behaviors. Those devices and their computational requirements do not really matter from the
standpoint of the high-level ASTRIC mission model. Those devices and any microprocessors running
them may be implemented with a variety of hardware and software. What matters is how they execute
the fundamental operations as specified in ASTRA. There will be other interfaces both “hard” and “soft”
(e.g., USB, XML, 802.11). These do not enter into ASTRA descriptions.
ASTRA is inspired by Java and also by OCCAM. It is an interpretive language designed to be machineindependent and also capable of being translated into any number of other languages (e.g., C++, Java,
Python) that will ultimately run some devices such as thrusters, servocontrollers, sensors, actuators).
Asynchronous parallelism is an essential feature, but the specifics of how that is implemented in terms
of processors and digital hardware is at a lower level of detail.
An ASTRIC operation consists of one or more components (units) of which the self-propelled tetrad
capsules are one variety. These units operate in a coordinate space that is (by definition) absolute with
31
respect to an origin (x,y,z) that is related to the component’s location and range of movement.
Movement within this operational space consists of:
Translate (maintain orientation and move to a new (x,y,z) position over time interval t)
Rotate (maintain position and rotate on internal (x,y,z) axes over time interval t)
How a given component accomplishes this translation or rotation process depends upon its individual
engineering, but from the standpoint of the mission being accomplished, there are these basic tasks.
Movement is relatively straightforward. Do this, within a certain time period. Activation is more
complex and varied and there are obviously mechanics at work that will have influence over a
component’s position and thus require compensatory force applications by one or more components in
order to prevent undesirable displacement (e.g., release or retraction of a cable, tugging between
tetrads that are attached by a cable, etc.).
move (x, y, z, t)
x = target x-coord
y = target y-coord
z = target z-coord
t = duration for completing the movement operation
rotate (xt, yt, zt, t)
xt = delta in degrees rotation around x-axis
xxxxxxxx
32
What is present position and orientation
What are effects upon neighboring units
Calculate thrust for each engine
Calculate waypoints and checkpoints
Begin operations
=====================================================
=====================================================
ASTRIC Prototype Modeling, Mock-Up, Interactive Demo – Design and Construction Notes
Martin D
31.Dec.2008
A key element in the design of ASTRIC 1, namely the system focusing upon asteroid collision deterrence
(ACD), is in experimental, trial-and-error, visually-enhanced model building. Part of this happens on the
computer using Matlab, AutoCad, and a suite of tools. Part of it will make use of a physical demo model
that is principally a 3D mock-up prototype, not built to scale or to proportion, not realistic in many
respects, but a real aid for both the design team and for others with whom communication about the
entire architecture is important (including those who are needed as sponsors, financial and political and
otherwise). As a tool for “thinking things through” this latter resource comes even before the
computational models and simulations, and in fact it will be used to help design those other resources.
The physical mock-up actually should come first.
Components:
Asteroid - 1
Tetrads (pods) – 4 to 8
Cables
33
Motorized reels – 4 per tetrad
Tension wires and pulleys
Laser pointer pens – 2
Asteroid
Chicken wire frame over wood skeleton, covered in fiberglass cloth, treated with resin, painted
Four eyehooks in corner positions, used for support wires suspending asteroid in mid-air
Asteroid suspension
The unit must be stable but adjustable both by manual operation for basic positioning and by the effects
of tetrad-spun cable nets (deflection repositioning). Both are explained below.
Basic positioning
The asteroid support wires run to fixtures in or near the ceiling. Each wire is spliced – wire, bungie-cord,
wire, thereby allowing some elasticity besides through adjustments of the wire, namely by the tetrad
cable nets.
The support wires run through pulleys and are then attached to ropes or chains that can be manipulated
by operators on the floor. This enables adjustments to be made so that the asteroid can be positioned
almost anywhere in the room and at different orientations.
The laser pointer pens are fixed in two ends of the asteroid and are used to illustrate the changes in
orientation of the asteroid when tensions are changed in the tetrad cabling net that is strtetched over
the asteroid and adjusted by means of both the tetrad support wires and main tetrad cables (as
described below).
Tetrads
34
The tetrads have tetrahedral geometries and are made to look just like the components of an ASTRIC
system. Each tetrad is positioned by two or three support wires that run through the centers of the
tetrad faces (and not the vertices). These are used for supporting the tetrads into “starting positions”
for any demo operations and for simulating the self-propulsion of the tetrads.
Tetrad cabling and harnessing/lassoing ACD operations with the asteroid
Cables are permanently connected between tetrads for purposes of demonstrating how they would be
at the commencement of ACD operations. Optionally, each cable end is connected through a tetrad
vertex to a servocontrolled reel which can be wirelessly operated or controlled by wires running
alongside the support wires to the tetrad. By manipulation of the support wires and the tetrad cables,
the positions of the tetrads can be changed, and the tensions of the cables changed, and this will
demonstrate the changes in orientation of the asteroid.
=====================================================
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TETRADYN and the SPACE INDUSTRY in 2008 and Beyond
What we have designed and produced, what we are doing, and how it is of special value to
innovators and companies that are going beyond the conventional limits to create vehicles and
habitats for spaced-based exploration and development.
Preface
Our economic model and business process plan is such that we have been steadfastly building
a basis for stable and sustainable revenue through applications (products and services) that are
not dependent upon governmental or private funding for the explicit space industry, in order that
from this revenue stream we can generate sufficient capital and maintain sufficient human and
equipment resources for working on space-focused products and projects.
35
Thus, we have performed research and developed products and provided services that pertain
to vehicle engineering, analytical chemistry, environmental and emergency response, and
information technology, all because of two important reasons:
(1) These provide components, parts, skills, important for more advanced and challenging tasks
for space power, flight, exploration and habitation;
(2) These provide the basis for business sustainability in an economic and social climate
wherein space science and engineering is not high on the list for investors or customers.
We now (Dec., 2008) have people, facilities, and a complement of equipment and resources
ranging from machines and tools for fabrication and testing, simulation and modeling, and
prototype vehicles for demonstration and experimentation.
We have our product line, our expertise, our tools and resources, our research results, and our
capabilities, for delivering something special for designers, builders and testers of engines,
vehicles, and other components for LEO, NEO, lunar and planetary missions. It is time for
partnering and working as part of other teams that are reasonably well-established in the field.
This is what we have to offer today, and it is the result of years of research and development by
a team working during this time at five leading universities, four private companies. Moreover,
we are able to engage in this work more economically, we believe, than almost all others in a
similar position – this is very important in our present socio-economic era.
Capabilities and Offerings
While not all of these will be applicable to a specific project or task, we believe that the fact that
we have worked in all of these areas as a compact team does increase our value to a partner or
customer for working in any one very specific application that may demand all of our resources
plus the proverbial “thinking outside the box” capability that is often the missing ingredient for
success.
Composite materials and structures
Carbon nanotube based films, meshes, cables, and other composites for improving structural
integrity, safety, durability, and also reducing weight and incorporating intelligent self-testing and
self-healing materials.
36
Energy process optimization
Application of inverse method algorithms for redesign of solid-fuel rockets and for improving fuel
consumption in liquid-fuel and non-oxidation engines
Control and optimization of hybrid engine systems (e.g., electric + multifuel; E-Fusion™).
Hybrid and integrated energy and propulsion systems
Fuel cells, solar and thermal photovoltaics, and multi-fuel combustion
Lift and atmospheric propulsion
Integration of rocket, multiple-vehicle and lighter-than-air ground lift systems
Optimization in solid and liquid fuel chemical combustion
MEMS sensors, actuators and controllers
Employing PRMC, LBL, PAS and RePAS sensing elements
Standard interfaces
Parallel element and processor operations
Fault-tolerance
Customizable architectures for multiple types of chemical and biological sensing/activation
targets
Pattern classification, identification and recognition
37
Adaptive learning algorithms based upon refinements in Bayesian, Connectionist (neural) and
Heuristic (rule-based) network models
Application of inverse, mutual-information and deformable registration models from medical and
subsurface imaging to more generalized object recognition tasks
Radiation absorption skins for space structures
Removable external coatings for protection against low-energy/high-mass radioactive particle
dust
Robotics
Flexible-geometry, surface-contour movement robots
Modular interconnectable robots
Sensor-actuators and networks
Wide-area wireless capabilities
Nomad Eyes™ sensor fusion logics and algorithms
Improved human-machine communications and knowledge acquisition
Shelters (manned or unmanned applications including in-orbit or in-transit fuel storage)
Gas-inflated and solar-enabled, based upon Smart Shelters™ and EcOasis PodLab™ designs
employed for emergencies, hazardous conditions, and field testing.
38
Space-based assembly
Improved tethering and communications among assembly units
Improved connectivity and bonding for parts
Tetrahedral and tensegrity-based component design
Space-based solar power
Conductive-polymer film flexible and self-assembly sheets in tandem with conventional cellbased photovoltaics
Large-area unfolding and streaming solar collector/converter sheets and module surfaces.
Tensegrity structures
Fixed-geometry modules, vehicles and machinery including robots and spacesuits
TETRANOD™
Soliton-beam technology for compact nuclear reactor elements (initially developed within
nuclear fusion and particle-beam research communities)
39
SPARE TEXT, NOTES, DRAWINGS
40

cebars - The TETRAD

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