Initial Testing and Evaluation of the BioBot EVA Support System

Current concepts for the Artemis personal life support system (PLSS) for lunar exploration are trending towards twice the weight as that used during Apollo. While the Artemis PLSS will be superior in many respects, the additional weight on the astronaut�s back will hamper the widespread use of EVA required to make the Artemis program a success in terms of both science and public engagement. Under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, the University of Maryland is developing and field testing the �BioBot� concept for extended EVA support. In this concept, a highly capable rover accompanies each EVA crew, carrying the bulk of their life support on the rover and supplying consumables to the astronaut via an umbilical tended by an autonomous manipulator system. This scenario places a number of technical demands on the individual BioBot components, such as rover trafficability comparable to the suited crew walking, autonomous crew tracking and umbilical manipulation, and limited on-back life support systems for independent mobility at will with simple and highly reliable mate/demate of the umbilical from the suit in the field. The baseline of two single-person rovers allows dedicated support of each crew, but also allows both crew to return on the functional vehicle following a rover failure, thus alleviating the onerous �walkback� criteria of a single two-person rover. BioBot was designed for deployment of both rovers on a single CLPS lander during the early phases of Artemis, with each rover having a 10-meter umbilical-tending manipulator. The prototype system developed at the UMD Space Systems Laboratory is limited to a 5-meter arm due to the requirement for analogue field testing in Earth gravity.

This paper details the development and field-testing of BioBot, from localized testing on the UMD campus to full system simulated geologically focused EVA activity in analogue field sites.