NASA plans to return to the Moon in 2020, and astronauts will use lunar resources to produce water, fuel, and other necessities. Scientists are working to create machines that can be used on the Moon. One example is the development of lunar construction equipment—a lunar soil excavator. Energid Technologies is developing a software toolbox for NASA to verify excavator designs. The functions of this toolbox include:

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　　1) Automatically generating control systems based on computer-aided design (CAD) models,

　　2) Rapidly verifying complex mechanical structure designs,

　　3) Providing detailed simulation models of excavator-soil interaction to verify mobility and excavation functions. An innovative, very fast simulation tool that can analyze excavator designs in depth and comprehensively. Various stochastic simulation methods can simulate and verify excavator designs from multiple aspects. Changed parameters are controlled through an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) to evaluate machine stability, energy consumption, reliability, maintainability, ease of control, and more.

　　Energid previously developed the rapid robot design verification software Syntasis? for NASA. This software uses Energid's unique, patented algorithms to simulate and control complex mechanical structures solely from CAD models. Energid has also developed high-fidelity real-time physics simulation algorithms that can simulate the interaction forces within models and the mechanisms of interaction between models and the external environment. The new excavator simulation software will build on this foundation, innovatively utilizing multiple simulation algorithms, combined with new soil simulation methods and unique control simulation methods, making it possible for this tool to transform and improve excavator design.

　　The project's outcome will be a software tool applicable not only to various excavators designed by NASA but also to various ground-based excavation and earthmoving machinery. Energid will provide the software as a standalone application and also as object-oriented software components that can be integrated into other applications. By connecting the components with their code, developers can easily apply simulation and verification techniques to their research projects.