015 - Space pt2 - Design and management of extreme tech with Evan Hilgemann

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/015-space-pt2

We hunker down behind the blast doors and quickly record part 2 of our space episode before 426 manages to get through. That’ll make more sense once you hear the episode, or maybe it won’t! I may have gotten carried away on the sound design on this one.

We are still exploring the parallels between space and deep-ocean exploration. It feels like technology and access is really accelerating in both spheres. Don calls in to teach us about the amount of water in our solar system and the potential new job title – Planetary Oceanographer.

When an incredible piece of tech grants us access to an exciting new frontier, it can be hard to manage all the different things we would like to do. Alan relays how, on his expeditions, data is first shared with the host nations and then access is requested.

When samples or access to a vehicle is limited, how can we ensure that resources are shared fairly? We have seen it lead to disagreements on ships. With something as singular and precious as a Mars rover, how are its objectives planned? Evan Hilgemann, mechanical engineer and Curiosity Rover driver with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JLP) joins us to share how a rover is managed. We chat about the parallels between exploring mars and exploring the deep sea, the similar issues we face, what we can learn from each other and most excitingly, where is technology heading on both fronts! It turns out fleets of distributed intelligence rovers on the moon or a steam-punk rover on Venus aren’t all that farfetched. These are exciting times.

Feel free to get in touch with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We are also on

Twitter: @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Instagram: @armatusoceanic

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Glossary

Autonomous - Something which can get on with things without human control

AUV - Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Distributed intelligence – a very fuzzy term but basically multiple ‘stupid’ elements working together to do complex processing or make complex decisions.

Hadal - Areas more than 6000 m deep, mainly the deep-ocean trenches

JPL - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

ROV - Remotely Operated Vehicle

Transect - A quantitative survey of an area. You fly a set path and quantify everything on it.

Links

Evan’s Twitter: @evanhilgemann

Evan’s Newsletter

Steampunk rover article

Steampunk rover video

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Curiosity rover – NASA

World's Largest Ball of Twine, Darwin, Minnesota - postcard