USC professors to pilot robots that build on the moon
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Architecture professors at the University of Southern California are over the moon after being awarded a NASA research grant. Neil Leach and Anders Carlson teamed up with colleagues in the engineering and astronautics departments to draft the snappily-titled research proposal 'Contour Crafting Simulation Plan for Lunar Settlement Infrastructure Build Up’. Put simply, the team wants to use robots to build on the moon. The team was one of 30 selected from more than 700 applicants for the NASA programme. Leach and Carlson will work with USC engineering professor Behrokh Khoshnevis and astronautics professor Madhu Thangavelu to see how “Contour Crafting” technology, a robotic construction method developed at the university, can be used to build storage space on the moon. The robot will create buildings layer by layer using concrete made from moon rock. The team said: “Contour Crafting was voted recently as one of the top 15 innovations that will change the world. The question now being addressed is how it will change the moon.” |
