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Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator

a regolith and excavating technology, applied in the direction of soil shifting machines/dredgers, mechanical machines/dredgers, mechanical apparatus, etc., can solve the problems of cumbersome process, obvious solution of attaching spacecraft in some way to asteroid, etc., and achieve the effect of rapid movement of large volumes of material

Inactive Publication Date: 2014-11-27
COVEY STEPHEN D
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator (ERE) is a new method of excavation that uses magnetism to move large amounts of material from deep inside asteroids. The method is fast and efficient and can dispose of both magnetic and non-magnetic materials using the same process. The ERE can drill holes and collect the material in a collection bag.

Problems solved by technology

However, the microgravity environment results in several challenges for asteroid exploitation, including the difficulty of processes—such as digging—that we take for granted on the Earth's surface.
Obvious solutions—attaching the spacecraft in some way to the asteroid—are cumbersome if the spacecraft must be able to traverse the asteroid's surface gathering material.

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0043]The Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator consists of a transport tube 1 constructed of non-magnetic material, and various configurations of electromagnetic coils 2 at or near the entrance and along the tube. The tube may or may not be flexible, may or may not be straight, and it ultimately dumps the moving material into a collection bag or other container 18 beyond the reach of the last magnet. The spacing of the coils, the strength of their magnetic fields, and the timing and shape of the magnetic waves that attract the regolith and move it along the tube are parameters to be determined by experimentation in a microgravity environment.

[0044]The controller is a software-controlled, possibly camera guided electric sequencer. The sequencer computer 8 individually activates the coil controllers 6 via control wires 5 which, when activated, apply current to the selected coil via wires 3. The coil controllers 6 are powered via a current source power supply 7 using wires 4.

[0045]In nor...

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Abstract

Decades of research and development have been invested in various forms of railguns, coilguns and mass drivers. See http: / / settlement.arc.nasa.gov / 75SummerStudy / Table_of Contents1.htmlResearch at the Space Studies Institute in the 1980s refined the mass driver concept. See http: / / ssi.org / introduction-to-research / research-report / # mass-driver-iiiThe innovation of the Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator is to eliminate the use of a bucket or other container that is accelerated by the magnetic fields. Instead, magnetic particles in the regolith itself (nickel-iron grains and / or magnetite) are put into motion and they carry along with them a to-be-determined fraction (perhaps all) of the co-resident non-magnetic regolith particles.The Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator applies only attractive forces: no anchoring is required. This enables robotic and crewed spacecraft to safely collect surface material from asteroid targets that may be tumbling. Because no hard connection is required, no strong hazardous forces can be imparted to the collection apparatus aboard the spacecraft.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION[0001]The Electromagnetic Regolith Excavator (ERE) is a proposed method of excavation (including drilling) that uses traveling waves of magnetism to draw magnetic materials into and through a tube and then to direct their movement into a collection bag. It takes advantage of the magnetic nature of most chondrite asteroids (whether in nickel-iron grains or in ferromagnetic minerals such as magnetite) to rapidly move large volumes of material. Non-magnetic materials are carried along with the magnetic portion, thanks to collisions, friction, inertia, and the careful timing of magnetic pulses.[0002]The ERE behaves much like a vacuum cleaner: the open end attracts loose material, which then enters a duct and is moved along it by directional forces until it is deposited into a receptacle. A vacuum cleaner uses air pressure to draw in and move material, while the ERE uses magnetic attraction to draw in and direct the material. A vacuum cleaner depends upon friction...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): E02F5/00
CPCE02F5/00E02F3/88E02F7/10F16L27/11E21C51/00
Inventor COVEY, STEPHEN D.
Owner COVEY STEPHEN D
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