
Subject: 26 Aug meeting notes
To: meteorite-list@ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu, lri-desert@ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 19:45:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Maimone <mwm@ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Reply-to: mwm@ri.cmu.edu
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Status: RO

	Hi all,

	Sorry for the duplicates; from now on I will only send this
info to the "meteorite-list" mailing list, but right now I've also
included "lri-desert".  If you need to be added to the meteorite
list, please send email to kimberly@ri.cmu.edu.

					Mark M.

26 August 1997		Meteorite Meeting Notes

Dimi Apostolopolous, Jim Teza, Mark Maimone, Paul Levin, Stewart
Moorehead, Ben Shahman, Kim Shillcut, Michael Parris, Scott Workman,
Bill Cassidy, Jon Burroughs, Matt Deans, Mike Montemerlo, Peter
Coppin, Reid Simmons, Mark Sibenac

------------------------------

We opened with discussions about CMU participants in the Antarctic
program, their areas of expertise and percentage of committment.

Difficulty in that several people expect to be graduating in fewer
than six months.

Some folks are also considering working on the Chernobyl project, at
least part time.

Alex has experience with radar, it's possible he'll work on a radar
navigation sensor for crevasse detection.

Mike Montemerlo is a first year Robograd (lots of FRC experience) who
has expressed interest in joining our program.

Red:  Automated perception is going to be what makes this program.

Snow and ice have many appearances and changing properties, which
makes detection in that background difficult.

Our hope is to get Hans online for 50% participation, with him
actually here in Pittsburgh for that time.

Sib is deciding whether to stay on with us.

Stewart is interested in working on physical control and/or autonomy.

Red had high praise for Kim's work in the past year.

------------------------------

Red asked an open question: What does it take to have a successful
mission?

Reid:  Make the project goals explicit from the very beginning, so
that the focus of the project is clear, and people can choose to work
on just the aspects of the project needed for success.

Bill:  The total effort of people in Pittsburgh is to prepare for the
8-person Antarctic away team.  For such a mission, you don't need
experienced mountaineers, you need highly motivated people.
Expedition organizers once thought rugged individuals would fare best,
but really the motivation is what counts.  Lab workers were actually
the most appropriate, because they understood the science needs of the
mission and did what was necessary to meet them.  A good sense of
humor helps too in a restricted environment.

------------------------------

It is critical that our team produce papers; that is how our success
is measured.

Dimi says in 10 days we will have specific documents outlining the
plans for the Antarctic and Return to Atacama programs.  Everyone will
need to study and memorize them, so we all share the same vision of
the program.  Details may change, but the vision will persist.

Red:  Need to produce a CD-ROM of the Atacama experiment.

------------------------------

Immediate needs for Nomad:

RETURN OF NOMAD:  Michael says Seaboard Marine vessel due on 4
September in Houston, but it left Valparaiso three days late so there
may be some delay.  Michael is arranging for transport from Houston,
talking to R-house Warer (??) from Pittsburgh as well as Houston-based
companies.  Customs clearance typically takes 4-5 days, but if
everything is prepared in advance it's possible to clear it in a day.
Michael is also considering how to get things off the boat; if it's
necessary to unload the shipping container in Houston, it would be
important to send someone from CMU down to oversee the unloading.
Dimi suggests that we may want to have a CMU person there in any case.

Our air freight shipment from Houston arrived Friday, should be
delivered to CMU today.

Sib reminds us to arrange satellite time far enough in advance; a year
lead time is often requested.

Eric will provide a list of mechanical work that needs to be done.

Mark M. has a list of software items that need to be done.  Some can
be done without the vehicle, but the critical parts will require
complete use of the vehicle.  So Reid points out that we need two
weeks of time to ensure we get three days of testing in the Run, or an
equivalent area with rugged terrain and obstacles.

Red: Kim has been looking into search strategies that allow for search
without running over meteorites.

Reid:  We need to decide exactly what the success criteria for 1997 are:
patterned search?  safeguarding?  autonomy?  [Red:] component tests to
enable the next part of the search (e.g. solar)? Comm links?

Dimi:  One option is to just take components this year, without taking
Nomad.  We are also discussing the option of taking Nomad to Greenland
in May, for the purpose of demonstrating Nomad's capabilities on the
ice.

Red:  We are committed to the 1997 deployment for science purposes in
Antarctica.  We must confirm that we can find meteorites.  [Dimi:]  We
are requesting meteorites samples from JSC to enable testing in the
unlikely chance that we are unable to use a stranding surface with in
situ meteorites.

The plan is to use Chilean transport to arrive at the Patriot Hills site.

Proposed field team:  Bill Cassidy (expedition leader), Liam Pedersen
(sensors), Pascal Lee (Ames, now fully committed), Sean Norman
(commercial crevasse expert from New Zealand), possibly an extra
person from CMU so Liam doesn't have to run *all* the sensor
experiments.

Bill:  It would be good to get as many people as possible with
Antarctic experience under their belt [Dimi] Might be 3+3, three with
experience to buddy up with three CMU folks.

Red:  We also need to position ourselves for this three year program,
so perhaps we need to give more people sufficient experience in the
ice environment.

Dimi:  The design of Nomad II will become critical this fall, along
with the rework of Nomad.  Nomad will likely be the testbed for
fieldwork until Nomad II becomes operational, which probably will not
occur before in Antarctica 98 (16 months from now).

Red:  Reid is heading up CMU's response to NASA's autonomy program.
Our team here is world-class at developing robots and deploying them
in the field.

Dimi: Although Nomad may not be deployed until May, it will be active
here in Pittsburgh until that time for any necessary testing.

Reid:  What is the weather like in Greenland in May?  Red: Subject to
white-out storms, but often clear weather.  Reid:  If we expect
precipitation in Greenland, will Nomad be weatherproofed and available
for outside testing during Pittsburgh winter weather?

Red:  Comments from the world about robot search:  1) Not as methodical
as human search  2) More expensive than human search.  The reason for
these concerns is that we have not demonstrated the contrary yet.

Dimi: In three years, Lavery wants a tool we can provide to ANSMET.

Bill:  If you want a number to aim for, the ANSMET project says each
meteorite costs $2500.

------------------------------

Meeting time for this semester:  Tuesdays at 0900.

------------------------------

Plans for the next week:

Red will speak to NSF
Dimi will determine people's roles, determine Nomad's next location
Scott will work out plans for Building E, look into Patriot Hills environment
	[Dimi: clean up treehouse, testbed, main floor]
Mark M will provide TRIWG inputs, assign roles for software changes
Jim will look into meteorite/robot sensor requirements and lead times
Paul is building a new Redhat linux box as a testbed for nav software
	development and testing
Eric is wrapping up financial issues and working on building refit
Stewart working on solar cell testing, helping with autonomy
Ben will clean up machine shop, get CNC running, bring Eric up to
	speed on using the CNC.  Need to order or machine new wheel
	components.
Michael will track equipment return, finalize its return, work with Oz
	on Atacama budget
Jon will meet with Jim to work on electrical components, wants to
	arrange credit for work here to free up more time for the project
Bill will work on acquiring the field equipment (some items have long
	lead times) needs to contact Venture Network, needs to talk
	with the wheel traction people.  Ben suggested it would be
	best to wait a week until things get more settled.
Reid: if we're going on ice, are we getting an ice testbed?  Dimi: we
	are looking into using a hockey rink and/or industrial size
	refrigerator.  Reid: concern about testing on slopes.  Red:
	DOD Cold Weather Lab in New Hampshire does cold weather
	testing (Bill: CREFF Lab might be the acronym)
Dimi: Sib and Jon please check the robotics club for recruits

Friday 4pm is a reward and recognition event for the Atacama project
and other robotics summer 97 projects (e.g., navlab, helicopter) in
Smith Hall 2nd floor.

"Thank you"s need to get written and sent.  Might even have a thank
you event, paid for by one of the sponsors.

We need to supply Takeo with transparencies, video, and documentation.
Mark M. will print out Deepak's slides, Dimi will pass them by Red.

Urgency to get materials to Takeo today, but we need to collect images
and papers together ASAP.

Dimi:  Our main objective has been and continues to be the Moon.  To
get there, we are looking into good analogs for the Moon and Mars;
Antarctica and Greenland are some possibilities.  We continue to
develop the sensors and capabilities needed to enable robotic
exploration of these areas.  For the immediate future, the next
mission is to explore and demonstrate meteorite search technologies in
the Antarctic setting.

Don't say December, say "within a year".  Don't say "Antarctica".  Refer
anyone asking such questions to Dimi.