Sky crane?
If I remember correctly, this seems to be a black technology developed by NASA. So far, NASA has used this black technology to land multiple Mars rovers smoothly and safely on Mars.
I heard that this technology is very difficult. Can we do it?
Obviously, there are many people on site who have had such thoughts and concerns. In addition to some non-technical personnel, there are even some scientific research and technical personnel who are also skeptical about this.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Zhou Xiangming immediately turned to look at Wu Hao, then smiled at everyone and explained: "Yes, this technology was indeed a cutting-edge technology mastered by NASA.
However, this does not mean that this technology is only available to them. In fact, many countries and aerospace technology companies are also conducting research on this technology or similar technologies.
We are one of them, and thanks to our outstanding achievements in the field of rocket technology, we can say that we have many advantages over others in the research and development of this technology.
At present, we have completed our own sky crane technology research and development demonstration work. The formal research and development work has begun and is currently going very smoothly.
We are confident that our company's first intelligent lunar exploration rover will be launched as scheduled next fall. "
After hearing Zhou Xiangming's introduction, everyone nodded one by one, although they still had many questions. Also, since Zhou Xiangming has already guaranteed it, what do they have to worry about.
Wu Hao did not say anything, but smiled and motioned for Zhou Xiangming to continue.
After receiving Wu Hao's signal, Zhou Xiangming nodded immediately and continued to introduce to everyone.
“In addition to the difficulty of landing on the moon using sky crane technology this time, our biggest problem should still be this intelligent lunar exploration vehicle.
First of all, this lunar exploration rover, or it can also be called a lunar patrol rover, a lunar rover. The biggest difference between it and other past lunar rovers and lunar ground rover is that it has an intelligent brain, that is, an artificial intelligence system. Have an intelligent brain that can think and make decisions independently.
In other words, in addition to being remotely controlled by us humans, these two lunar rover exploration rovers can also be given instructions by us humans, which can then be executed autonomously by this intelligent lunar rover exploration rover.
And this time, compared with previous lunar projects, we launched a separate intelligent lunar rover. It can move freely on the moon without restrictions or restrictions, and can go to any place it can go.
In terms of theoretical design, this intelligent lunar rover has the ability to drive at high speed on the moon, with a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
This kind of speed is definitely not worth mentioning compared to earth vehicles. But compared with all the extraterrestrial planets in the past or that may be seen in the future, such as lunar rovers and Mars rovers, they are faster, and much faster.
At such a speed, the safety of the intelligent lunar rover has naturally become the top priority for us to solve.
As we often say, you must first be able to survive, so that you can do more things.
And at this speed, relying solely on our remote control from the earth is obviously not enough and cannot be achieved.
Therefore, we have to develop an automatic driving system for this intelligent lunar rover and rover, so that this intelligent lunar rover can travel on the moon independently. "
"When it comes to self-driving technology and driverless driving, we are all very familiar with this area. Because now all slightly higher-end cars are equipped with self-driving technology. Although most of them are not mature enough, there are still some Some very well done.
Of course, we have also engaged in research and development of autonomous driving technology and have made good progress.
And this time, some of the intelligent self-driving technology we have on this intelligent lunar rover is derived from the self-driving car technology we developed.
However, the lunar rover is very different from our cars, and the lunar environment is also very different from the earth's environment.
On the moon, our autonomous driving system does not have to consider road maintenance, vehicle-pedestrian avoidance, vehicle-to-vehicle distance control, etc., which are essential technologies in a car's autonomous driving system. "
"The intelligent lunar rover does not need these. There are no roads on the moon, let alone vehicles and pedestrians.
Therefore, the key point to consider for this intelligent lunar rover is obstacle avoidance technology. The terrain on the moon is very rich, with not only some rocks of different sizes, but also some craters of different sizes. As well as some common mountains, cliffs, endless plains, etc. on our earth.
Therefore, this requires our intelligent lunar rover to avoid the rocks and potholes that these intelligent lunar rover may encounter while traveling at a high speed of 30 kilometers per hour. And quickly plan a safe, flat, passable route.
It seems that this technology is not that difficult, at least it is not as advanced as obstacle avoidance technology such as avoiding moving vehicles and pedestrians in autonomous vehicle driving technology.
But in fact, this technology is not simple at all, and if it is carried out on the moon, it will be more difficult than everyone imagines.
Especially in such complex terrain, you have to drive at high speed, and you can quickly and quickly plan and select a safe, flat, and intelligent route that the lunar rover can pass.
To be honest, this is not easy for some of our off-road vehicle experts or experienced drivers. Even experienced off-road vehicle drivers will encounter a series of problems and failures in such terrain.
It's okay on earth, because on earth our drivers can get out of the car at any time to make repairs or even call for rescue.
But on the moon 380,000 kilometers away from us, once our intelligent lunar rover has a problem, such as damage to the vehicle, rebellion, or some other malfunction.
So what should we do? Is it really like what we did with Yutu-1 that we just stopped on the moon and finally gave up?
So for us, the own safety of the intelligent lunar rover is the first priority.
This requires that this self-driving technology must be reliable enough. Otherwise, we can only reduce the speed and then move forward a few centimeters like those previous lunar surface patrols.
In that case, the scientific research value and commercial value of our intelligent lunar rover will be greatly reduced. "
