Overview

Samantha has conducted SMART research developing the mechanical hardware, electrical systems, and software for robots used for various in-space SMART demonstrations as well as contributing to planning studies. 
  • Defense Innovation Unit (August 2020 - Present): Consulting as an Operations Research Analyst to aid in selection of companies for various solicitations. Co-chaired the In-Space Transportation & Logistics working group for the State of the State Industrial Base 2022 workshop and wrote corresponding section of the final report. 
  • Space SMART Think Tank (August 2020 - Present): Helping run a community think tank of leaders from industry, government, and academia who are working together to envision a future of space enabled by in-space servicing, manufacturing, assembly, robotics, and transportation (SMART).
  • NASA in-Space Assembled Telescope (iSAT) Study (1 year): participated in this study for the National Academies’ 2020 Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey.
  • NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Cumulative 0.5 Year): reconfigurable satellites with serviceable scientific payloads and robotic starshade assembly. 
  • NASA Langley Research Center (Cumulative 1 Year): precision jigging robots for solar array assembly, heterogeneous teams of robots for truss construction, lunar crane development, modular soft robots, and stacked Stewart platform manipulators.

Consulting

August 2020 - Present​
Consulting as an Operations Research Analyst for the Defense Innovation Unit to aid in selection of companies for various solicitations. Co-chaired the In-Space Transportation & Logistics working group for the State of the State Industrial Base 2022 workshop and wrote corresponding section of the final report (see below). ​

Space Servicing, Manufacturing, Assembly, Robotics, and Transportation (SMART) Think Tank

The SMART vision is fundamentally different from the way we do space operations today. In this vision, SMART capabilities transform space operations from unitary spacecraft in fixed orbits with all of the fuel and instruments that they will ever have to a routinely serviced and updated ecosystem of agile, resilient spacecraft whose capabilities are not limited by what fits in a single launch vehicle. They create an ecosystem of persistent spacecraft that are built and assembled in space, refueled and technologically updated, and have the ability to move and maneuver freely in space. Together they would form a robust in-space infrastructure of supply chain, logistics and construction."
August 2020 - Present
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​Read more about the study using the links below: 
A community think tank of leaders from industry, government, and academia who are working together to envision a future of space enabled by in-space servicing, manufacturing, assembly, robotics, and transportation (SMART). 

Samantha's responsibilities on the think tank include:
  1. As one of the five organizers, Samantha helps plan monthly all hands meetings and weekly meetings of breakout groups of participants. In addition she documents the proceedings of the meetings. ​
  2. Organizing participant input into presentable graphics and documents to report the findings of the think tank. 

NASA in-Space Assembled Telescope (iSAT) Study

When is it advantageous to assemble space telescopes in space rather than to build them on the Earth and deploy them autonomously from individual launch vehicles?"
October 2018 - July 2019
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iSAT Study Face-to-Face Meeting at NASA LaRC (September 4-6 2018) [2]
This incredible study that submitted a white paper, about how in-space assembly could be used to build the next big space telescope, to the the National Academies’ 2020 Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey! 

Samantha's responsibilities on the study included:
  1. Succinctly summarized weekly telecon and face to face meeting discussions and organized progress from subsystem teams (robotics, structures, optical, spacecraft, etc.) to assuring any requirements were conveyed between teams.
  2. Writing an over 200-page internal study report, collecting all the study findings, insights, and recommendations for the role of in-space assembly in future large space telescopes.

​Read more about the study using the links below: ​

​NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

 With few exceptions, existing satellites are assembled on earth and launched into space with no provision for repairing defects or upgrading their capabilities, preventing them from evolving and dooming them to becoming space junk. JPL’s Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators group (347B) is working on a project called the Persistent Robotically Operated Platform for Science (PROPS) investigating how a satellite can be modularized into discrete components that can be assembled, reconfigured, or replaced as needed by an in development robotic system to realize the idea of a fully upgradable and serviceable satellite. The initial robot architecture uses a walking behavior as its main mobility mode which by iteratively attaching and detaching either end of the arm from designated docking points on the satellite it can move itself and carry satellite instrument pallets along the main bus. 
September - December 2019
Co-op - Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group
Persistent Robotically Operated Platform for Science (PROPS)

Created the controls system for an active precision pointing system, comprised of four linear actuators connecting the top and bottom plates of the pallet, to maintain instrument attitude within ± 3 millidegrees while counteracting disturbances under 1 Hz. Conducted testing and created sequences for robotic arm maneuvers including end over end walking, instrument manipulation. 

​Starshade Analog Robotic Assembly Demonstration
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Proposed and lead a robotic autonomous assembly demonstration of a 2.5-meter starshade mockup. Presented this work at the 2020 IROS Robotic In-Situ Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (RISAM) Workshop. 
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A Robotically Assembled and Serviced Science Station for Earth Observations - End Over End Robot Walking [3]
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Completed robotically assembled 2.5-meter starshade analog. [4]
​June - August 2018
Intern – Robotic In-Space Assembly Research and Development
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Pallet Hybrid Passive Isolation and Active Pointing System
Design and Testing of a Modular Satellite’s Pallet Hybrid Passive Isolation and Active Pointing System

Designed the prototype pallet hybrid isolation system to connect a variety of interchangeable scientific payloads to the main satellite. The pallet system consists of passive flexures, used to mitigate high frequency motion, coupled with actuators, used for active pointing to compensate for low frequency motion/drift, to effetely keep instruments “still” despite disturbances from the satellite truss that they are mounted to.​

NASA Langley Research Center

June - August 2019
Intern – Robotic In-Space Assembly Research and Development 
Lunar Crane, Lander Payload Manipulation, and Rover Changing Demonstration
Lead a team of 7 interns and contractors in completing a demonstration where a miniature version of the Lightweight Surface Manipulation System (LSMS-mini), small lunar crane, was mounted to the platform of a mock-lunar lander and performed tasks such as unloading payloads onto the back of a rover, swapping end effectors, charging the rover, and deploying ground solar panels.

Highly Organized Multi-agent Enclosures (HOME)
Worked with 2 other interns to develop two soft robot modules that could change their shape, translate via rolling motion produced by sequential bladder inflation, join together, and rigidize into a final shape by cooling embedded thermoplastic.
May - December 2017​
Co-op – Robotic Assembly of Space Structures
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Summer 2017 NINJAR 2.0 Team [4]
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ASSEMBLERS Test - 2 Stewart Platform Stack [6]
Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic Assembly and Servicing (CIRAS)
  • Project Summary: NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) was tasked by Orbital ATK to develop a high precision truss building robot for the CIRAS project and complete a demo. 
  • Challenges: The previous design of the NASA Intelligent Jigging and Assembly Robot (NINJAR) didn’t function properly so Samantha re-designed it using Creo Parametric to create NINJAR 2.0. 
    • NINJAR required an immersive metrology system to allow for visual feedback - to achieve this Samantha designed and fabricated four portable 2.5 meter tall, 2.5 meter wide panels, constructed with 80/20, and mounted VICON cameras and provide a reduced noise metrology setup. 
  • Results: Lead team of 8 other interns in building NINJAR 2.0 and conducting a successful demonstrations of its capabilities.
    • First Test: It precisely positioned eight truss joints then team members attached struts between the joints to complete the truss bay. Precision of assembled truss was within 5-mm and 3-deg of the reference truss.  
    • Later Test: Conducted a tele-operated trial in which a truss bay was constructed by a team of three robots: NINJAR, the Strut Assembly, Manufacturing, Utility & Robotic Aid (SAMURAI), and the Lightweight Surface Manipulation System (LSMS). In this test team members operated the robots with controllers and succeeded in constructing a truss bay. ​
Assembly of Space SystEMs By using Locomotion and Error-correction for RobustnesS (ASSEMBLERS)
  • Refined design to optimize Stewart platform robot to be lightweight, cut weight to a quarter of the previous versions and created the electronics system to run the ASSEMBLERS robots together. 
  • Lead team of interns and contractors in building two robots, each comprised of four Stewart platform units stacked. 
  • Project Summary: My mentor Erik Komendera was trying to win funding for his Early Career Initiative (ECI) concept called ASSEMBLERS. My role was to create renders for the proposal and produce prototype robots to demonstrate functionality as a proof of concept.
  • Challenges: The application process was on a quick two month timeline so I had to design, make renders for in-space robotic assembly concepts using Creo Parametric, and prototype very quickly using a BCN3D Sigma 3D printer to fabricate parts and an Arduino to create an electronic control system controlled wirelessly via XBee modules. 
  • Results: Optimized Stewart platform robot: cut weight by 65% from previous designs.
    • Lead team of interns in building two robots, each comprised of four Stewart platform units stacked on top of each other.
May - August 2016​
Intern – Robotic Assembly of Solar Array Modules by a Team of Robots
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"Diagram showing workspace with the LSMS, IPJR, turntable, truss, and panels shown to relative size. Inset: IPJR detail." [7]
Robotic Assembly of Solar Array Modules by a Team of Robots
  • Designed, built, and tested components for a teleoperated trial in which a team of robots, consisting of LSMS (a long reach manipulator) and an Intelligent Precision Jigging Robot (IPJR), assembled solar array modules onto a backbone truss.
  • Rapidly prototyped Creo Parametric designs for the interfacing elements of the two robots, utilizing a MakerGear M2 3D printer and waterjet cutter to allow for quick iteration, maximizing verification time.
  • Constructed and programmed electronic infrastructure, Arduino hardware/software, required for teleoperation. 
Photo Sources:
[1] https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/internal_resources/1081/
[2] https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/system/internal_resources/details/original/967_LRC-2018-B701_P-02711.jpg
[3] R. Mukherjee et al., "A Robotically Assembled and Serviced Science Station for Earth Observations," 2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 2020, pp. 1-15, doi:10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172368.
[4] S. Glassner, G. Raiola, R. Mukherjee, S. Backus, A. Brinkman, T. Setterfield, 2020. Starshade Analog Robotic Assembly Demonstration. Robotic In-Situ Manufacturing, Structural Assembly and Servicing (RISMSAS) ICRA 2020 Workshop 
[5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/irma/orbital-atk-supports-ground-testing-on-ciras-at-nasa-s-langley-research-center.html
[6] http://ek2.co/
[7] Komendera, E.E., Adhikari, S., Glassner, S., Kishen, A., and Quartaro, A., 2017. Structure Assembly by a Heterogeneous Team of Robots Using State Estimation, Generalized Joints, and Mobile Parallel Manipulators. In IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (p. TBD), Vancouver, BC.