DELMIA Plays Key Role in Mission to Mars; Envision Software Used to Simulate and Optimize Beagle 2 Lander's Activities for Exploration on the Red Planet.Business Editors AUBURN HILLS, Mich. & MANCHESTER, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2003 Delmia Corp., a Dassault Systemes company (Nasdaq:DASTY) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY DSY Drum Storage Yard .PA), today announced that its Envision software has been used extensively by space scientists working for the Beagle 2 mission. When the lander arrives on Mars on Christmas Day, DELMIA technology will help it explore the topography and geology of the red planet. Beagle 2 is a British-led exploration of Mars The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union (later Russia), the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s. and forms part of the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission. The primary aim of Beagle 2 is to search for evidence of past life on Mars Scientists have long speculated about the possibility of life on Mars owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to Earth. It remains an open question whether life exists on Mars now, or existed there in the past. . A key component of this task is a robot arm, which is equipped with an end effector containing a set of instruments to examine the Martian surface, sub-surface, and nearby rocks. Instruments contained within the arm's end effector effector /ef·fec·tor/ (e-fek´ter) 1. an agent that mediates a specific effect. 2. an organ that produces an effect in response to nerve stimulation. , known as the Position Adjustable Workbench or PAW, include spectrometers, a stereo camera system, a microscope and a range of environmental sensors. "DELMIA's Envision accurately accesses the efficiency of work sequences to optimize the design of its work paths," explained Dr. Dave Barnes, senior lecturer in charge of the Space Robotics Group at The University of Wales Affiliated institutions
UWA University of West Alabama (Livingston, Alabama) UWA United Way of America UWA University of Wales, Aberystwyth UWA Uganda Wildlife Authority UWA Unified Watershed Assessment UWA Ultra Wide Angle ). "Motion is rapidly prototyped or 'captured' into the virtual environment, enabling quick and precise analysis of reach, lift, cycle time, visibility and motion. Our experience with Envision led the Beagle 2 Team to request that we help them calibrate To adjust or bring into balance. Scanners, CRTs and similar peripherals may require periodic adjustment. Unlike digital devices, the electronic components within these analog devices may change from their original specification. See color calibration and tweak. the robot arm together with the PAW." "Knowing that both the arm and the PAW were designed using Dassault Systemes' CATIA A family of 2D and 3D CAD programs from IBM. CATIA was one of the first CAD programs to provide 3D solid modeling. The program was developed by Dassault Systems, a French aerospace company. PLM (Product Life cycle Management) A comprehensive information system that coordinates all aspects of a product from initial concept to its eventual retirement. Sometimes called the "digital backbone" of a product, it includes the requirements phase, analysis and design software, selecting advanced simulation software from sister company, Delmia Corp, was a easy decision. Since the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions are seamlessly integrated, all the design data could be simply reused to build the various simulations," continued Dr. Barnes. The Envision simulations allowed scientists to ensure both the arm and its PAW are positioned correctly in order for instruments to function properly. Some of the lander's experiments last for several hours, therefore it is critical for the mission team to not only make sure that the arm's motion proceeds smoothly, but also that the arm does not cast shadows on the solar panels that power the lander as the sun moves through the sky. A virtual recreation of the Martian terrain was created that helps predict what the team is seeing as the arm moves, decreasing the chance of accidental damage. The 3D terrain model also enables the rapid planning and validation of the arm's activities, allowing the arm's configuration to be exported straight from Envision into the model. Although the equipment has performed well in the lab setting, the ultimate challenge will be how it operates on the Martian surface. "For controlling tricky operations we take confidence from the good track record of DELMIA software when operating in challenging situations," concluded Barnes. |
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