Swarms for Sampling and Detection of Life in Caves on Earth and in Space

主要目标:-设计和测试一群机器人，用于采样和探测地球洞穴中的生命-优化群体行为/设计，以找到洞穴中生命存在的最有力证据-使用实地工作测试结果为未来探索行星洞穴的太空任务提供设计建议。洞穴是地球上最后两个探索前沿之一，它们提供了一个保存完好的采样环境，具有很高的科学价值。然而，由于所涉及的风险和进入洞穴的困难，洞穴并没有很好地描述。一群机器人装备精良，能够应对洞穴探险带来的众多挑战（有限的感官信息、不可预测的地形、没有GPS的环境等等）。蜂群将被设计和优化，通过多次测量和从洞穴不同区域采集的样本来探测生命，这为洞穴中存在生命提供了比单个机器人更高水平的证据。蜂群也有相关的应用，如化学羽流追踪和水平岩心采样能力，并且有现成的/简单的仪器，如测试条，用于检测生命中常见的物质。从这些洞穴中收集的新样本可以为以前未见过的微生物学提供潜在的医学应用，并有助于提供越来越多的证据，证明洞穴中存在显著的生物多样性。蜂群也可以扩展到洞穴的地质采样，这将揭示我们气候历史的新见解。未来的太空探索任务优先考虑洞穴作为高价值的天体生物学目标，有最好的机会发现生命的迹象，由于辐射屏蔽，洞穴很可能被用于未来的太空定居。这项研究填补了未来利用蜂群探测行星洞穴生命的天体生物学太空任务在技术发展上的差距。

Main Objectives: - Design and test a swarm of robots for the sampling and the detection of life in caves on Earth- Optimise swarm behaviour/design to find the strongest possible evidence for life in caves- Use fieldwork testing results to provide design suggestions for future space missions that explore planetary cavesusing swarmsCaves are one of the last two remaining frontiers for exploration on Earth and they provide an incredibly well-preserved sampling environment that's of high scientific value. However, caves are not well characterised due to the risks involved,and the difficulties to access them. A swarm of robots are well equipped at dealing with the numerous challenges (limited sensory information, unpredictable terrain, GPS denied environment, and so on) posed by cave exploration. The swarm would be designed and optimised to detect life through multiple measurements and samples taken from different areas of the cave, which provides a higher level of evidence for the existence of life within these caves than a single robot is capable of. Swarms also have relevant applications such as chemical plume tracing and horizontal core sampling capabilities, and there is readily available/simple instrumentation, such as test strips, for the detection of substances common to life. The new samples collected from these caves could provide insight into previously unseen microbiology with potential medicinal applications, and contributes to the growing body of evidence showing significant biological diversity in caves. The swarm could also be extended for geological sampling of the caves, which would reveal new insight into the history of our climate. Future space exploration missions prioritise caves as high value Astrobiological targets with the best chance to detect signs of life, and caves are likely to be used for future space settlements due to radiation shielding. This research closes the gap in technological development for future Astrobiological space missions to detect life in planetary caves utilising swarms.