Austrian Space Forum presents ESA its rover

For some time there are talks about a possible cooperation of Austrian Space Forum and ESA on "Phileas" (Mars analogue rover developed during PolAres project). Prof. Dr. Bernard H. Foing - top scientist at "Research and Scientific Support Department" (RSSD) at ESA - suggested to demonstrate an ASF rover prototype during a workshop at ESTEC which is a branch of ESA based in Noordwijk (the Netherlands) where an integral part of the planning of nearly all ESA projects is carried out.

"Dignity" was the first rover built by the Austrian Space Forum. Also it was the prototype for the rover "Sissi" which was in use during the AustroMars mission in 2006. "Dignity" was an experimental rover to gain experience in constructing mission-critical components. The rover possesses a chassis, solar modules, pivoted cameras and a remote-controlled robotic arm. The cameras send video streams to two notebooks which are used as mobile mission control units.

On April, 1st, demonstrations were executed on ESA's Rover Testing Areal. This areal represents a martian surface with various rock and sand surfaces to test robots and tools. The rover rolled off a simulated landing platform then collected and transported distinct stone samples. Positioning a sample in front of the lense of a Raman spectrometer mounted on a different rover turned out to be the most difficult task. The spectrometer determined the characteristics the of the sample. It was essential to pinpoint the position of the robotic arm on a millimeter's accuracy to prevent scratches on the lense.

"Dignity" worked perfectly and coped with all tasks. It was also presented to other participants of the workshop who made numerous photos and recordings. During the second day a short presentation about the Austrian Space Forum and its current projects was held. That opened opportunities for cooperation with other european research groups who may contribute valuable skills and knowledge to the PolAres subprojects. For now "Dignity" will stay at ESTEC in the Netherlands where it will be used for geological and robotic experiments. Furthermore the rover was introduced during a french science broadcast.