SCIENCE Team

© 2006 Denis Thibault

Designing Your Martian Landscape

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars 2

Designing a Martian Landscape

Objectives– To design a reduced scale Martian landscape based on the

research from the previous lab along with the provided requirements.

– The landscape must provided a number of obstacles for the Martian rover to negotiate.

– The team will produce a scale drawing (blueprint) of their proposed landscape.

Materials List– Reference material on Martian geology– Topographic representation of Mars– Grid paper, pencils, rulers & scales– Poster materials– Martian Dollars, as per budget

Procedure– The teams get together to

• Brainstorm ideas of what geological features they want to incorporate in their landscape (see brainstorming ideas section of lab)

• Capture the outcome of your brainstorm session onto a poster board (see suggested layout)

– Yellow sticky notes in priority– Implementation diagram

• Based on the implementation diagram and the requirements– Draw to scale your landscape– Use color code to identify the various features of the

landscape• Test your design by

– making a basic rover to your diagram’s scale– Run the rover over the landscape and ensure there all

obstacles can be negotiated.

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Martian Terrain Specifications

Overall Layout• The Martian exploration terrain is built from Styrofoam boards. • The terrain should be painted with a color mix of 1 part burnt umber

and 1 part raw sienna.• The Styrofoam will be 1 1/2" thick. • The overall size is 8’ X 8’. • The terrain will be split into 4 modules.• Each section will be 48” wide by 48" long.• The sections will be placed side by side to form a 8’ X 8’ landscape.• These 4 sections will be placed beside a "special" section.• This special section holds the Mars Lander "Peregrine"• The unloading ramp of the Lander will unfold onto your exploration

terrain.• This ramp will be used to unload the rover from the Lander.• The ramp will be removed when it comes time for the rover to return

the rock to the Lander.• The rover will be expected to stop in the un-loading zone at the foot of

the Lander.• The un-loading zone is 12" wide and 12" in length. The un-loading

zone will be painted yellow.

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Martian Terrain Specifications

Clearance• Your landscape must be built in such a way that the rover will be have

ample room to navigate obstacles or avoid them.• Test you landscape layout with a rover mock-up before you start

building.• The rover cannot exceed 8" wide, 10" long and 8" high.• The section near the Lander’s ramp must be level and flat.

Paths• The paths will be made with an ½ inch white tape stuck onto the

surface• The path will start at the Martian lander and end at the Martian lander,

therefore forming a loop on the Martian landscape• The path must not have any sharp turns in it, all curves must be

gradual• The path must not cross over itself• The rock samples must be placed at most 3 centimeters from the path• The rock samples can be placed on the path.

MartianLander

LandscapeModules

Path

Rover

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Terrain Obstacles

Rocks• Rocks can be positioned on the terrain. Your rocks

should be somewhat spherical in shape.

• If you wish for the rover to climb the rock, it should be fastened to the terrain and should not exceed 1/2" in height.

• Rocks can be painted in any color other than black, white or yellow.

• Large rocks must be height of more than 2". This will guarantee that the rover will detect them with its bumpers and will therefore be able to navigate around them.

Crevices• Crevices can be carved out of the terrain. They are

represented by cracks in the surface that are longer than wide.

• If you wish for the rover to navigate over a small crevice than it should not be deeper than 1/2" and should not be more 1/2" wide.

• If you wish to make a large crevice and still have the rover navigate it, it should have sloping edges that have no more than 10 degrees.

Craters• Craters can be carved out of the terrain; they are

typically oval shaped and have a ridge around them.

• If you wish for the rover to navigate into the crater, the ridge must be less than 1/2" high, and the slope leading into the crater must be less than 10o.

• The crater should not be deeper than 1/2" to guarantee that the rover can climb out of it.

• The crater should be painted in a color matching the overall tones of the terrain.

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Terrain Obstacles

Hills• Hills can be made by stacking Styrofoam

layers together.

• If you wish for the rover to navigate over the hill it should have slopes that are less than 10 degrees.

• Otherwise, the hill should have quick rising slopes and should be higher than 2".

• Large hills can be painted in any realistic colors

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Brainstorming Ideas

RULES:• All ideas are GOOD

• Do not dispute the ideas

• You can ask questions that will clarify what the person meant to communicate

• Everyone should be given an opportunity to participate PROCESS:• Read the detailed requirements out loud, each team member take a

turn at reading.

• Each team member is given 10 yellow sticky notes.

• Each team member writes 10 items that they believe are required to build a realistic Martian landscape based on the detailed requirements and their research.

• Each team is given 30 minutes to complete this part.

Hills

Valleys

Craters

Rocks

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Prioritizing Ideas

• Collect all the sticky notes for your team

• On your poster make 3 columns with the following titles:

– Must Have

– Should Have

– Would be Nice to Have

• Take turns at placing your sticky notes under what you think is the appropriate column

• This should take 15 minutes to complete

• Get one of the leaders to review your “priority list” with your team.

Must Should Nice

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Mission to Mars

Landscape Components

Valleys

Atmosphere

Crevices

Sun

Craters

Moons

Rocks

Weather

Landscape

For each component, describe/write how you plan to implement the component for your landscape in the appropriate box. i.e. what will you use ? Use your priority list.

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Suggested Poster Layout

Facts about Mars

Summary of landscape requirements

BrainstormOutcome(priority list, Component diagram

Scale drawing of landscape to be built

Section A Section B Section C

December 29, 2008

Mission to Mars

Purchase-Lease Ledger

Date Purchased

Supplier Name

Description Total Paid

Research Materials

Poster Materials

Scientific Consultant fees

Photocopies

Starting Balance : ___$______________

Ending Balance : _$________________