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Completed TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 4)
As more lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) missions are planned and developed, a need was identified for a simulation environment with accurate regolith interaction mechanics that is less computationally expensive than commercially available multiphysics tools. The purpose of the Simulated Excavation Environment for Lunar Operations (SEELO) project was to develop an interactive simulation environment that efficiently models lunar ISRU excavation operations, including soil deformation, while running in faster-than-real-time.
The SEELO simulation enables the development of robust machine learned models and policies to execute and improve certain ISRU operations. SEELO is also intended to enable various projects and capabilities such as validation of excavation mechanisms and testing/validation of mission architectures or robotic systems for ISRU. ISRU missions currently in the planning stages and leveraging the data generated by this simulation in a wide variety of mission architectures will significantly improve the fidelity of planning efforts. The skills required to develop this simulation, both for ISRU concept testing and machine learning to enable autonomy, are valuable and transferable to other dynamical systems and environments at KSC.
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