NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Wind-Based Navigation of a Hot-air Balloon on Titan: A Feasibility StudyCurrent analysis of data streamed back to Earth by the Cassini spacecraft features Titan as one of the most exciting places in the solar system. NASA centers and universities around the US, as well as the European Space Agency, are studying the possibility of sending, as part of the next mission to this giant moon of Saturn, a hot-air balloon (Montgolfier-type) for further and more in-depth exploration. The basic idea would be to design a reliable, semi-autonomous, and yet cheap Montgolfier capable of using continuous flow of waste heat from a power source to lift the balloon and sustain its altitude in the Titan environment. In this paper we study the problem of locally navigating a hot-air balloon in the nitrogen-based Titan atmosphere. The basic idea is to define a strategy (i.e. design of a suitable guidance system) that allows autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation of the balloon using the available (and partial) knowledge of the wind structure blowing on the saturnian satellite surface. Starting from first principles we determined the appropriate thermal and dynamical models describing (a) the vertical dynamics of the balloon and (b) the dynamics of the balloon moving on a vertical plane (2-D motion). Next, various non-linear fuzzy-based control strategies have been evaluated, analyzed and implemented in MATLAB to numerically simulate the capability of the system to simultaneously maintain altitude, as well as a scientifically desirable trajectory. We also looked at the ability of the balloon to perform station keeping. The results of the simulation are encouraging and show the effectiveness of such a system to cheaply and effectively perform semiautonomous exploration of Titan.
Document ID
20090039497
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Furfaro, Roberto
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Lunine, Jonathan I.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Elfes, Alberto
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Reh, Kim
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
May 24, 2008
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Conference
Location: Orlando, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: May 24, 2008
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
balloon dynamics
Titan
fuzzy controller
hot air balloons
autonomous exploration
Cassini

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available