Aug 18 2010
Boston Power Inc., an award-winning provider of lithium-ion battery technology, has declared that NASA has selected its Swing battery system for “Project M” the Roman numeral for 1000, for the space agency’s upcoming lunar landing mission to land a humanoid robot on the moon in 1000 days.
The battery will power the Robonaut 2 or R2, a nimble android developed jointly by NASA and General Motors to support astronauts working in hazardous environments and on iterative tasks. Other R2 robots will work alongside astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery, a subsidiary of the STS-133 mission.
2.5kWh energy storage system, which includes the company’s Swing battery system as well as an integrated battery management system, will be provided by Boston Power. The features of this storage system are high energy density, extended calendar range at various levels of temperature, thereby helping to meet weight, space and flight necessities of the pack.
Boston-Power’s Swing lithium-ion battery after enduring stringent requisites was originally designed to power hybrid cars like Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Utility Energy Storage solutions. It has been certified along with Sonata by Nordic Ecolabel environmental accreditation and another certification by China Environmental United Certification Center (CEC).
The company has entered into a Space Agreement Act with NASA which enables mass production of advanced lithium-ion battery pack for NASA performance. These battery packs will be tested at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for possible incorporation in an advanced space vehicle as a part of the lunar mission.
Dr. Christina Lampe-Önnerud, Boston-Power Founder and CEO represented the company in declaring the collaboration with NASA and Project M and said that there is a need for long lasting batteries to sustain in the growing field of robotics
Source: http://www.boston-power.com