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NASA's ISAAC robot gets new room for composite research

10 Oct '16

2 min read

ISAAC, a multi-million-dollar robot on a mission to build experimental composite structures built by NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has built a hermetically sealed $750,000 air-tight, temperature, and moisture-controlled workshop, where it can research on making composite materials for the air and space vehicles of tomorrow.

ISAAC stands for Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites and it's been a part of NASA's Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia since January 2015. The robot is being used to improve methods of manufacturing components made of composite materials for use in aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicles, and other systems.

The new enclosure also gives researchers the ability to control air temperature and humidity and can be used as a variable in experiments. For instance, researchers could ask ISAAC to build a panel of composite material while holding the temperature inside the clean room at exactly 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius). While holding the temperature steady, they could build panels at any relative humidity level between 50 and 80 per cent. Testing and inspection could then determine how those humidity levels affected the end product.

Having purchased the clean room's walls and roof from a vendor, project leaders at Langley upgraded electrical service in the lab to accommodate the system's high-powered heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and its HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter.

The enclosure is 70 feet long, 41 feet wide and 17 feet high. Getting large parts and materials in and out of the clean room will be accomplished through two retractable sections of wall and roof that allow access to the room's interior from a ceiling crane that runs the length of the lab. After opening the clean room in this way, the air filtration system is powerful enough to restore the level of purity in under three hours. (GK)

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