IceMole is an autonomous ice research probe, incorporating a new type of ice-melting tip for the exploration of polar regions, glaciers, ice sheets, and extraterrestrial regions, developed by a team from the FH Aachen, a Fachhochschule (university of applied sciences) in Aachen, Germany. The advantage over previous probes is that the IceMole can change its direction and can be recovered after being used. A driving ice screw allows the probe to drill through soil layers and other contaminations in the ice.
History
The IceMole is being developed using rapid prototyping. , the probe is in its first prototype and it has been designed to carry out the subsurface investigation of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets. It is planned that future versions of the probe would be suitably adapted for extraterrestrial ice research, e.g. on the polar caps of Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa, or Saturn's moon Enceladus.
The robot resulted from a student project at the Fachbereich Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik (Faculty of Aerospace Engineering) at the FH Aachen, led by Prof. Dr. Bernd Dachwald. The excavation is carried out by both drilling and melting of the ice. In a clean ice core, the probe can analyze the surrounding ice with measuring instruments. While drilling, the surrounding ice is not biologically contaminated.
, the project objectives are given as:
The project requirements also emphasised the need for maximum reliability, robustness, mobility, environmental security and autonomy.
IceMole 1
Heated tips in probes have been employed since the 1960s but the probes could only drill straight down, could not be recovered from deep intrusions and were halted by buildup of dirt and sediment, which would not permit heat transfer. To overcome these problems, the IceMole combines a screw with a melting tip.
The first prototype IceMole is a pencil-shaped craft that is designed to autonomously deploy and dig itself into ice. It is a square tube of cross section. It has a melting head at the tip which has differential heating in different parts. The robot is powered by a power generator on the surface and is attached by means of a cable, which relays the power supply, communication and data signals. The IceMole utilizes a long screw at its heated head that keeps firm contact while drilling with the ice being melted. The IceMole has separately controllable heating elements that can be manipulated to obtain differential heating. The differential heating permits the gradual change of direction.
The ice screw is located at the tip of the melting head and generates a driving force that presses the melting head against the ice. This enables the IceMole to penetrate soil and mud and also leads to a good conductive heat transfer when in contact with the ice. The thermally isolated ice screw transfers ice into the probe, where it can be analyzed in situ. It is planned that instruments will be fitted in the probe that will analyse the ice and send only the results to the surface.
The technical specifications of IceMole1 are given below :
The IceMole team has developed the vehicle without a specific payload in mind. The vehicle has an inner chamber in which sensors and other instruments may be housed. In its recent tests, the IceMole carried an off-the-shelf camera. The team is also designing a fluorescence biosensor detector that could search for organic molecules in the ice.
IceMole 2
Since October 2010, the IceMole team is working on a redesign of the first IceMole. The Improvements are, amongst others, the optimization of the melting head and a completely newly developed gear. The new melting head has 12 separately controlled heating elements. These 12 cartridge heaters are arranged in a ring inside of the melting head. In addition, it has 2 wall heaters on each side in the rear of the probe. With this addition, the IceMole2 maneuverability improves over that of its predecessor. The new gear has been specially developed for this probe. Thus, the transmission has a higher efficiency and is more lightweight. It is planned to test IceMole2 in the summer of 2012.
The planned technical specifications of IceMole2:
The probe has also been designed to drag a series of containers containing sensors which can be jettisoned on command and deployed permanently in specific locations in the ice. The team hopes to eventually work with other researchers that would use IceMole to drop sensors deep in icy environments. While the power supply for the first field trials on a glacier was provided by an external power generator on the surface, it is also planned that the heating power be provided by an on-board power source.