Robot-Assisted Deployment and Maintenance of Inflatable Modules for Lunar Habitation: A Field Demonstration
Abstract: Long-term human habitation and in-situ development on the Moon open a new era of space utilization. In this context, robots are a key technology for facilitating the construction of future human outposts. Toward the deployment and establishment of human habitation modules on the lunar surface, we propose a combined system consisting of inflatable modules and a modular, reconfigurable robotic system. This paper presents a report demonstrating various robot-assisted task executions using real hardware, namely the modular and reconfigurable robot MoonBot and the inflatable module HIDAS, to enhance the reliability of their deployment and maintenance. The demonstrated tasks include robotic inspection during inflation, module position alignment, final safety locking, and three-dimensional mapping for post-deployment maintenance. All demonstrations were conducted either in a laboratory environment or at a lunar analogue test site. Finally, lessons learned are discussed to provide essential insights for this robotic application to future lunar habitation.