Intelligent Lighting System for Lunar Extravehicular Activity� �Aleix Estevadeordal, Dante Garderet, Ayaka Hoshida, Chacko Mathai, Jack Tomkiewicz, Anthony Zheng
Rice University, Houston TX | ricespaceowls@gmail.com�
EVA Lighting System Shortcomings
The Space Owls team would like to thank their TSGC mentor, Ricco Aceves, for his guidance in this process. We would also like to thank our two faculty mentors from Rice University, Dr. Gary Woods and Dr. David Trevas, for the support in engineering design. Finally, we are indebted to the Rice University Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen for providing us with funding and an excellent maker space in which we can work.
Design Objective
Features of the Lighting System
NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission conducts extravehicular activities (EVAs) on the lunar surface, yet current lighting systems are not compatible for astronaut use
Acknowledgements
Enhances visibility of astronauts within 10 ft
Intelligent system using CV for targeted illumination
Resistant to harsh lunar environment
Temperature maintained between 0 and 80ºC
Consumes less power than traditional systems
Design an adaptive lighting system that enhances EVAs and astronaut autonomy on lunar missions while conserving energy and prioritizing astronaut safety
Project Outcome
We created an adaptive lighting system capable of precisely detecting and illuminating astronauts in dark lunar environments. Our design reduces power consumption and improves safety. In the future, we will add hermetic sealing and flexible PCBs
Lighting Enclosure
Carbon-Fiber Nylon enclosure and Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) blanket protects internal components from lunar environment while reducing weight
Top row of lights illuminate to allow camera detection
1
Computer vision detects location of astronauts and their heads
2
LEDs controlled to illuminate astronaut excluding their head
3
Astronauts can use hand gestures for additional control of LEDs
4
Custom-Designed LED Boards
256 white LEDs with 20° collimation
5-Pin header for Daisy-Chain operation
Hot-swappable modular design
Driver for individual control of LEDs
Custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) enable precise control of 256 LEDs to save over 20% power by providing light only where desired
40 watts of heat generated by the lighting system is dissipated using a Thermal Control System (TCS), which utilizes heat pipes to transfer heat from electrical components to a passive radiator
Radiator performance validated through thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) testing
Black matte surface of radiator rejects excess heat in infrared spectrum
Conductive plates and heat pipes
for each of 4 LED boards
Thermal Control System (TCS)
Astronaut Detection Using Machine Learning
Gesture Recognition
Allows astronauts to control LEDs from afar
Custom computer vision (CV) model stored in Raspberry Pi 4 and Coral is trained with over 2000 images to detect astronauts during EVAs, and control LEDs using features such as head and gesture recognition
Head Recognition
Detects location of astronauts’ faces to control LEDs to prevent glare
All On
All Off
Brighter
Dimmer
Conductive Plate and Heat Pipe System
Heat travels from electrical components to machined aluminum conductive plates and dissipated to radiator via heat pipes
Thermal Control System (TCS)
Carbon-Fiber Nylon Enclosure
5x stronger than aluminum by weight
MLI Blanket
Six aluminized mylar and five tulle layers enhances thermal performance and protects components