Design and Experiments of Multi-modal sensor and Battery Housing for Antarctica mobile robot

In this paper, we describe a study on the housing methods of mobile robot systems capable of operating in extreme environments such as Antarctica. Unlike typical robots, those deployed in Antarctica must have various capabilities including operation in extremely low temperatures, waterproofing, insulation, and corrosion resistance. This paper explains the research conducted to protect multi-modal sensors for environmental perception and battery systems for power supply in mobile robot systems. The proposed system's housing is equipped with a Temperature Control Unit (TCU) to maintain operating temperature in cold environments. To ensure operation in extremely low temperatures, the housing maintains airtight using seals for insulation and waterproofing. The multi-modal sensors are fabricated using stereolithography (SLA), allowing for flexible design and fabrication to accommodate various sensor shapes, and protective lenses are applied to the openings for camera sensing. Finally, the proposed multi-modal sensor structure was tested in a chamber at -50 degrees Celsius to verify its performance.