WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 There is a critical barrier to cultivating a sustainable human presence on the moon, Mars and beyond: Delivering materials to build infrastructure is costly and requires more cargo space than is currently available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AnalySwift LLC<\/a>, a Purdue University-affiliated company, has received an $899,738 Phase II STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) award from NASA for a two-year activity to develop a solution: a robotic technology that welds and unwelds thermoplastic composites in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allan Wood, AnalySwift president and CEO, said the activity\u2019s purpose is to enable disassembly and reassembly of large truss structures by unwelding and welding composite joints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis capability allows the repurposing of spacecraft components for other missions, achieving multiuse structures and assembling large structures without the limit of launch-fairing dimensions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AnalySwift develops cutting-edge engineering software for the rapid yet accurate design and analysis of composite materials structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur focus will be simulating the advanced materials and structures needed for this activity, including the feasibility of repurposing full-scale truss structures,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kawai Kwok<\/a>, associate professor in Purdue\u2019s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics<\/a>, is the principal investigator. Yu She<\/a>, assistant professor in Purdue\u2019s Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering<\/a>, is working on the activity\u2019s robotics component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Phase II award follows a Phase I STTR NASA award to AnalySwift in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The activity has four objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwok will lead a team to develop composite joints that are embedded with a resistance heater made of the same thermoplastic matrix as the adhered composite struts and a thin-film resistor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe embedded heater provides in situ heating to bring the thermoplastic matrix to the processing temperature for bonding and debonding the joint-strut interface by mechanical forces,\u201d he said. \u201cIntelligent robotic systems will perform the welding operation and structural reassembly to achieve reconfiguration of a truss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yu She, who will work on the robotics part of the activity, said robots are essential to assemble and repurpose large structures in space because it requires precise and repeatable manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy team will develop a dual-arm robotic system that uses vision, tactile sensing, and force and thermal feedback to locate composite joints, activate their embedded heaters, and carefully separate or reconnect the structural components,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wood said traditional delivery of materials and structures to space for building infrastructure presents a critical barrier to a sustainable human presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLong-duration crewed missions to the moon, Mars and beyond require infrastructure to be constructed sustainably on these surfaces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wood said there are significant logistical challenges in delivering heavy and large mission-enabling payloads to space due to limited launch capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCommunication antennas, solar arrays, thermal radiators and telescope mirrors require large-area support structures,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fundamental principle of electromagnetic waves dictates that the performance of these devices scales with their aperture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wood said the size demand for these structures easily measures more than tens of meters; current launch fairing diameter is limited to about five meters. Structures for sustained planetary presence are expected to be even larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe mass constraint on launch vehicles is equally restrictive, with the cost of space launch to low Earth orbit ranging from $2,000 per kilogram to $20,000 per kilogram,\u201d he said. AnalySwift LLC is a provider of composite simulation software, which enables an unprecedented combination of efficiency and accuracy, including multiphysics structural and micromechanics modeling. Drawing on cutting-edge university technology, AnalySwift\u2019s powerful solutions save orders of magnitude in computing time without a loss of accuracy so users can consider more design options and arrive at the best solution more quickly. The technologies deliver the accuracy of detailed 3D finite element analysis at the efficiency of simple engineering models. SwiftComp was developed at Purdue University and licensed from the Purdue Research Foundation. Contact AnalySwift at info@analyswift.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization<\/a> operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university\u2019s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. In fiscal year 2025, the office reported 161 deals executed with 269 technologies licensed, 479 invention disclosures received, and 267 U.S. and international patents received. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Purdue University is a research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the United States. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. As a land-grant university committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\nThe NASA-funded activity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Barriers to long-duration space missions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nAbout AnalySwift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
About Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
About Purdue University<\/h2>\n\n\n\n