Bio-Inspired Strategies Are Adaptable to Sensors Manufactured on the Moon.

Bio-inspired strategies for robotic sensing are essential for in situ manufactured sensors on the Moon. Sensors are one crucial component of robots that should be manufactured from lunar resources to industrialize the Moon at low cost. We are concerned with two classes of sensor: (a) position sensors and derivatives thereof are the most elementary of measurements; and (b) light sensing arrays provide for distance measurement within the visible waveband.

Are There Biomimetic Lessons from Genetic Regulatory Networks for Developing a Lunar Industrial Ecology?

We examine the prospect for employing a bio-inspired architecture for a lunar industrial ecology based on genetic regulatory networks. The lunar industrial ecology resembles a metabolic system in that it comprises multiple chemical processes interlinked through waste recycling. Initially, we examine lessons from factory organisation which have evolved into a bio-inspired concept, the reconfigurable holonic architecture.

Supplementing Closed Ecological Life Support Systems with In-Situ Resources on the Moon.

In this review, I explore a broad-based view of technologies for supporting human activities on the Moon and, where appropriate, Mars. Primarily, I assess the state of life support systems technology beginning with physicochemical processes, waste processing, bioregenerative methods, food production systems and the robotics and advanced biological technologies that support the latter. We observe that the Moon possesses in-situ resources but that these resources are of limited value in closed ecological life support systems (CELSS)-indeed, CELSS technology is most mature in recycling water and oxygen, the two resources that are abundant on the Moon.

How to Build a Biological Machine Using Engineering Materials and Methods.

We present work in 3D printing electric motors from basic materials as the key to building a self-replicating machine to colonise the Moon. First, we explore the nature of the biological realm to ascertain its essence, particularly in relation to the origin of life when the inanimate became animate. We take an expansive view of this to ascertain parallels between the biological and the manufactured worlds.

Tutorial Review of Bio-Inspired Approaches to Robotic Manipulation for Space Debris Salvage.

We present a comprehensive tutorial review that explores the application of bio-inspired approaches to robot control systems for grappling and manipulating a wide range of space debris targets. Current robot manipulator control systems exploit limited techniques which can be supplemented by additional bio-inspired methods to provide a robust suite of robot manipulation technologies. In doing so, we review bio-inspired control methods because this will be the key to enabling such capabilities.

Vanguard--a European robotic astrobiology-focussed Mars sub-surface mission proposal.

We present a new European Mars mission proposal to build on the UK-led Beagle2 Mars mission and continue its astrobiology-focussed investigation of Mars. The small surface element to be delivered to the Martian surface--Vanguard--is designed to be carried by a Mars Express-type spacecraft bus to Mars and adopts a similar entry, descent and landing system as Beagle2. The surface element comprises a triad of robotic devices--a lander, a micro-rover of the Sojourner class for surface mobility, and three ground-penetrating moles mounted onto the rover for sub-surface penetration to 5 m depth.

Why Raman spectroscopy on Mars?--a case of the right tool for the right job.

We provide a scientific rationale for the astrobiological investigation of Mars. We suggest that, given practical constraints, the most promising locations for the search for former life on Mars are palaeolake craters and the evaporite deposits that may reside within them. We suggest that Raman spectroscopy offers a promising tool for the detection of evidence of former (or extant) biota on Mars.