Australia’s largest covered lunar testing facility is located at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus. The AUD $7-million lab includes a lunar testbed designed to test planetary rover missions in realistic conditions, as well as space equipment such as sensing.
Yandiwanba (Yan-dee-wan-ba) means ‘to go from below to above’, ‘from the ground to a higher place, or way way above’, in the Yagarabul language. The name was provided by Gaja (Elder) Aunty Kerry Charlton.
Figure 1: Front view of the facility
The lunar testbed area of the facility has the following specifications and capabilities:
- 19m x 11.4m rectangular yard filled with lunar regolith simulant (particle size distribution, soil composition as well as optical properties have been considered, while keeping the material safe to operate around).
- Overhead gantry crane covering the whole testbed area.
- 9 overhead cameras with combined field of view covering the entire testbed area
- Lunar-gravity-simulation mechanism (using the gantry crane to lift some of the weight of a rover).
- Minimum ceiling height in the testbed space: 4m. Maximum: 8m.
- Option to operate with natural sunlight throughout the space, from ceiling and floor-to-ceiling large windows, see Fig. 2.
- Option to operate in controlled-lighting conditions at nighttime, thanks to large black curtains all around the testbed and artificial sunlight (powerful point-source LED light at low incidence angle, mimicking the conditions of the lunar South Pole), see Fig. 3.
- Large doors over about half of the length of the testbed can be open on both sides, providing the option to extend the navigation testing area to the outside of the building.
- Walkway all around the testbed for easy access and observation.
Figure 2: View of the main testbed space (daylight)
Figure 3: Example of controlled-lighting conditions in the testbed, simulating the lunar South Pole
The facility also includes:
- Fully equipped workshop adjacent to the test area, with direct access.
- Control room adjacent to the test area, with large monitoring screen, AV system and desks.
- Large meeting room equipped with AV, including large screen and video-conferencing capability
- Equipped kitchenette, lounge area and facilities.
- External landscaping area (approx. 20m x 15m) that can be used as additional outdoor rover testing area, including drone pad for drone operations.
Contact:
A/Prof Thierry Peynot
QUT Centre for Robotics
Email: t.peynot@qut.edu.au