瑞士精密电机处理有价值的火星土样品

这is the question that one of the most complex robotic systems ever built by humankind has set out to answer. Several of maxon’s electric drives are used for handling the soil samples—and to control the first Mars helicopter.

兴奋几乎是明显的：美国航天局的NASA将成功地落在火星上的第五个火车站，让它开始其系列任务，将火星土壤样本带回地球上返回地球？名为Perseverance的流浪者将于2月18日进入红星球的气氛 - 在旅行超过4.7亿公里之后。

如果一切都根据计划进行，毅力将降落在Jezero火山口中，曾经充满了水，寻找早期生活的痕迹。流浪者看起来很像其前身的好奇心，但它配备了更复杂的测量仪器和系统。其中一个任务将占用多达30个土壤样本，将这些中的每一个放在单独的容器中，密封它们并将它们放在火星的表面上，以便通过更晚的任务返回地球，其中克朗也将参与其中迈克斯。这个“火星样本返回”项目是迄今为止在无人空间探索历史中最复杂的任务。

NASA的喷气式推进实验室（JPL）负责持久性，并指望来自Maxon的技术，以处理样品。流浪者中有十个电动驱动器。这些负责移动从一个站到下一个站的样本的机器人臂移动。另外，电动机用于密封容器并将它们放在火星的表面上。

Drives responsible for mission-critical tasks

Just like the more than 100 existing maxon drives that have been reliably performing their duties on Mars, the motors for Perseverance are based on standard catalog products: specifically, nine brushless DC motors, the EC 32 flat and one of the EC 20 flat motors combined with a GP 22 UP planetary gearhead. The engineers at maxon closely collaborated with the specialists at JPL for several years to modify and extensively test the drives. After all, a lot depends on the drives functioning properly. Robin Phillips, Director of maxon’s SpaceLab, says: “We are involved in absolutely critical applications. If the robotic arm on which our BLDC motors are mounted doesn't move, or if the gripper doesn't work, then the mission will be a failure.”  

Maxon也在第一架火星直升机上

A drone helicopter called Ingenuity is attached to the underside of the rover. Ingenuity is destined to perform the first ever flights on Mars in the history of space exploration. It is solar powered and weighs only 1.8 kilograms. Six brushed maxon DCX motors with a diameter of 10 millimeters control the tilt of the rotor blades, which determines the direction of flight. The drives feature high energy efficiency, are dynamic and very light. “In the development phase, we performed extensive tests to make sure that the motors will work as intended under the extreme conditions on Mars,” says Florbela Costa, project manager for this helicopter at maxon.

通过这种实验，美国宇航局希望测试未来无人机航班的概念。在火星上飞行是一项挑战。气氛极薄，大致与地球上的条件相当，海拔30公里。第一个无人机航班计划于5月。

Space applications only constitute a small portion of maxon’s orders, but the high requirements push maxon to the next level. This is evident in the increased quality standards, as well as new testing methods and processes, which in turn also benefit customers in other areas, such as medical technology. “Apart from this, such space missions are simply incredibly fascinating,” says Eugen Elmiger, CEO of the maxon Group. “Time and time again, I feel honored and proud that our drives are used in these technically groundbreaking Mars missions.”

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