Robot Production

TL;DR

  • Purpose: Autonomous robots for mining, logistics, and assembly
  • Types: Crab-M (logistics), Centaur-M (manipulation), Mole-M (mining)
  • Productivity: 5 robots/day per assembly bay
  • Materials: >99% local (Fe, Al, NaS batteries), <1% import (electronics chips)

Overview

Gen-2 robots are autonomous machines manufactured from local materials on Mercury. Unlike Gen-1 (titanium robots from Earth), Gen-2 are made from steel and aluminum, making them heavier but cheaper and more repairable.

Three Robot Types

Comparison Table

Class Mass Materials Battery Power Purpose
Mole-M ~1500 kg Fe 83% + Al 15% 10 kV Cable 30 kW Regolith mining
Crab-M ~1000 kg Fe 35% + Al 47% NaS 20 kWh 10 kW Logistics, MD buffer
Centaur-M ~380 kg Fe 22% + Al 63% NaS 5 kWh + cable 5 kW Assembly, maintenance
Average ~960 kg Fe 58% + Al 32% — — —

Crab-M (~1000 kg): frame ~800 kg + NaS battery ~150 kg + actuators ~40 kg + sensor housings ~20 kg + electronics (chips) ~0.5 kg ≈ 1010 kg. Mole-M: cable reel 50 m, cross-section 50 mm² Al, 10 kV → 400 V (transformer). Details: Mole-M Assembly

Gen-2 vs Gen-1 Differences

Aspect Gen-1 (from Earth) Gen-2 (local)
Material Ti + carbon fiber Fe + Al (local)
Mass 120-950 kg 380-1500 kg
Battery Li-S (-60°C…+60°C) NaS (local)
Lifespan 2-3 years 5+ years
Repairability Difficult (parts from Earth) Easy (all local)
Cost High Low

Gen-1 Robots: Specifications

Gen-1 robots are delivered from Earth for first factory assembly (Bootstrap). They use Li-S (Lithium-Sulfur) batteries — modern technology with extended temperature range.

Why Li-S Instead of Li-Ion

Parameter Li-Ion Li-S (2025-2026)
Specific energy 150-250 Wh/kg 400-500 Wh/kg
Temperature range -20°C…+60°C -60°C…+60°C
Capacity retention at -40°C 50-60% 85%
Mass (at equal capacity) 100% 60% (40% lighter)
TRL (2026) 9 7-8

Sources: NASA Li-S, Lyten ISS 2025, ESA Li-S

Gen-1 Specifications Table

Robot Mass Li-S Battery Capacity Power Autonomy Role
Spider-Z 120 kg 10 kg 4.5 kWh 300 W 15 h Panel, mirror mounting
Centaur-Z 250 kg 25 kg 11 kWh 500 W 22 h Assembly, docking
Crab-Z 950 kg 80 kg 36 kWh 1500 W 24 h Module logistics
Mole-Z 800 kg 70 kg 31 kWh 2000 W 15.5 h Site preparation

Calculation: Li-S specific energy 450 Wh/kg (conservative, theoretical limit 2500 Wh/kg)

Assembly Team Composition (First Expedition)

Type Qty Unit Mass Total Role in bootstrap
Spider-Z 16 120 kg 1.9 t Panel mounting (critical path)
Crab-Z 12 950 kg 11.4 t Unloading and module logistics
Centaur-Z 24 250 kg 6.0 t Assembly and connections
Mole-Z 4 800 kg 3.2 t Site leveling
Total 56 22.5 t

Details: First Factory Assembly (Bootstrap)

Three Production Stages

Robot production is divided into three sequential stages:

1. Component Manufacturing (Materials to Components)

Finished materials (Al/Fe) are converted into robot components.

Three component production lines:

Materials: Fe (~560 kg) + Al (~300 kg) + Na/S (100 kg) from regolith processing

2. Robot Assembly (Components to Finished Robot)

Components are assembled into finished robots at assembly bays.

Three final assembly lines:

Assembly time: 48 hours per position, 10 parallel positions

3. Operation

After assembly, robots undergo testing and are deployed to work sites.

Operation Time
Functional testing 4 hours
Sensor calibration 2 hours
Initial NaS battery charge 12 hours
TOTAL until deployment ~18 hours

Assembly Bay

Parameters

Parameter Value
Positions 10 (parallel)
Assembly time per position 48 hours
Productivity 5 robots/day
Assembly area ~500 m²

Assembly Process

flowchart TD
    subgraph INPUT["COMPONENTS"]
        FRAME["Frame (WAAM + grinding)"]
        BATTERY["NaS Battery"]
        ACTUATORS["Actuators"]
        ELECTRONICS["Electronics (import)"]
    end

    subgraph ASSEMBLY["ASSEMBLY BAY"]
        POS1["Position 1<br/>frame installation"]
        POS2["Position 2<br/>body mounting"]
        POS3["Position 3<br/>battery installation"]
        POS4["Position 4<br/>actuator mounting"]
        POS5["Position 5<br/>electronics"]
    end

    subgraph OUTPUT["OUTPUT"]
        ROBOT["Finished robot<br/>→ testing"]
    end

    FRAME --> POS1
    POS1 --> POS2
    POS2 --> POS3
    BATTERY --> POS3
    POS3 --> POS4
    ACTUATORS --> POS4
    POS4 --> POS5
    ELECTRONICS --> POS5
    POS5 --> ROBOT

    style INPUT fill:#f0e68c
    style ASSEMBLY fill:#d4edda
    style OUTPUT fill:#cce5ff

Material Balance

For 5 robots/day (average robot 960 kg):

Material Mass for 5 robots Source
Iron (Fe) ~2.8 t Regolith processing
Aluminum (Al) ~1.5 t Regolith processing
Sodium (Na) ~250 kg Distillation
Sulfur (S) ~250 kg Titanium line
Electronics (chips) ~2.5 kg Import from Earth
TOTAL ~4.8 t >99% local

Localization: >99% by mass

Electronics ~15 kg/robot (total mass): chips ~0.5 kg import, sensor housings/cables ~14.5 kg — local Al

Na and S — for the full battery shop production program (500 kWh/day: for robots + reserve + replacement)

Import Components (“vitamins”)

Component Per fleet (60,000) Frequency
Ball bearings (440C) 0.8-1.6 t One-time
NdFeB magnets (Centaur-M) 20-40 t One-time
Mo for MoS₂ <1 kg/year Annual
Ag for O-ring seals 60-300 kg One-time

99% by mass — local production; import components are part of “vitamins”. Details: Actuators.

System Productivity

Single Factory

Parameter Value
Robots/day 5
Robots/month 150
Robots/year 1825

1000 Factories (mature system)

Parameter Value
Robots/day 5000
Robots/month 150,000
Robots/year 1.8 million

Production Energy Consumption

Component Power
WAAM cells (frame manufacturing) 30 kW
Grinding cells (processing) 10 kW
NaS battery production 50 kW
Assembly bay 10 kW
Testing 20 kW
TOTAL ~150 kW

Typical Robot Distribution per Complex

Type Quantity % Purpose
Mole-M 20 33% Regolith mining (6 quarries)
Crab-M 20 33% Logistics, MD buffer
Centaur-M 20 33% Assembly, maintenance
TOTAL 60 100%

With reserve (20%): ~75 robots per complex

Robot Maintenance

Scheduled Maintenance

Operation Frequency Location
MoS₂ bearing recoating 3-6 months Magnetron station + Centaur-M
Sensor calibration 3 months Automatic
NaS battery replacement 5 years Assembly bay
Actuator replacement As needed Assembly bay

Repairs

Repair Type Time Executor
Minor (sensor replacement) 2 hours Centaur-M
Medium (actuator replacement) 8 hours Centaur-M
Major (frame replacement) 48 hours Assembly bay

Service Life

Component Service Life
Fe/Al Frame 10-15 years
NaS Battery 5-7 years (4500 cycles)
Actuators 3-5 years
Electronics 5-10 years
Robot overall 5-10 years (with battery replacement)

Scaling

Robot Deployment by Phase

Phase Factories Robots per factory Total robots
Initial (Year 1) 1 60 60
Growth (Year 2) 10 60 600
Mature (Year 3-5) 1000 60 60,000

Conclusion: By the time 1000 factories are deployed, 60,000 robots are needed.

Production time: 60,000 / 5000/day = 12 days (with 1000 factories)

References: Autonomous Mining

TipAutonomous Quarries — Industrial Reality

Fully autonomous mining operates at industrial scale:

Company Achievement Year
Rio Tinto (Pilbara, Australia) 69 autonomous trucks, controlled from Perth (1200 km) since 2018
Caterpillar (globally) 690+ autonomous trucks in operation 2024
Rio Tinto (Gudai-Darri) Autonomous trucks + water tankers + robotic laboratory 2022
Caterpillar + NASA Joint development of lunar mining technologies 2019+

Control: Rio Tinto operates Pilbara quarries from a center in Perth (1200 km) — a direct analogy to Earth-based control. Communication delay with the Moon (1.3 sec) is even less than typical latency in such systems.

Scale: Autonomous trucks haul up to 400 t of ore, operating 24/7 in extreme conditions (+50°C, dust, difficult terrain).

Applicability to project: Mole robots on Mercury are analogous to autonomous mining trucks. Tasks are simpler (regolith is softer than rock), conditions are more predictable (no weather).

More details: Technologies and Sources

See Also