Picture of the Day: Lunar Communications Tower constructed by robots

Pictured is a Lunar Communications Tower. Constructed by robots, investigating ways to establish a robust communications infrastructure on the moon by the late 2020’s.

Gitai USA, a space robotics startup, has announced what it describes as a significant milestone in lunar infrastructure construction technology.

“In a groundbreaking demonstration and a ‘first of its kind’, Gitai successfully demonstrated its robotics technology for constructing a 5-meter-high communication tower in an environment simulating the lunar surface,” said the company.

“The project was spearheaded by Gitai in collaboration with its customer, KDDI Corporation, one of Japan’s largest telecommunications operators.”

The demonstration was conducted using only the company’s products, including a Lunar Rover and Inchworm robots equipped with ‘grapple end-effectors’ on both ends of the arm, enabling a wide range of tasks necessary for construction.

The construction of the Lunar Communications Tower took place on a desert simulating the lunar surface. And to give detail of the size – that is a 5-meter high tower.

The same combination of the robots connected the communication antenna to the apex of the tower (KDDI provided the specifications for their mobile phone base stations on Earth). They also connected power cables and the energy supply was confirmed.

And after construction came deconstruction. The same combination of robots proceeded to detach the antenna and disassemble the tower.

The whole activity was designed to simulate maintenance operations essential for sustainable lunar city development.

Image: Gitai

See also: Picture of the day: Origami-inspired centimetre-scale quadruped robot