Space suit puncture repair using a wireless sensor network of micro-robots optimized by Glowworm Swarm Optimization

Abstract

Astronauts involved in extra-vehicular activity are exposed to fast-moving fragmental particles known as micrometeoroids which could puncture space suits and depressurize them. A number of material-based techniques such as usage of various fabric-layer combinations and strategic placement of rigid materials in space suits have been implemented with successful results. But the drawback of such techniques lies in the fact that the thickness and rigidity of the space suit would increase if more layers are added with the intention of increasing the level of protection from micrometeoroids. In view of this problem, a good number of system design proposals for suit puncture-repair using nanorobots and micro-robots were published in the past few years but none of them could provide systems with completely defined working mechanisms. Working on these lines, this paper presents a new suit-repair system which is exhaustively defined and has high implementation feasibility. This system provides a new innovative space suit puncture-repair mechanism using a Wireless Sensor Network of micro-robots optimized using the Glowworm Swarm Optimization (GSO) Algorithm. Robust mechanisms and techniques which have been designed for all the operations involved in the system are vividly described. The effectiveness of GSO in optimizing the system is verified and optimal physical algorithm parameters are determined by testing it with a simulated partial model of the system.