On 18th February, a very important milestone in human technological progress and knowledge was reached: the Perseverance robot landed on Mars to start NASA´s Mars 2020 mission. Danobatgroup has a significant presence on this voyage, as Goimek, the high-precision machining and large-part machining company belonging to the industrial group, collaborated in the manufacture of the rover antenna. The rover vehicle will collect data on the past geology of the planet during its travels and will record sounds on its surface and even search for signs of life.
Specifically, Goimek was responsible for manufacturing the structural parts of the High-Gain Antenna Gimbal (HGAG) in materials such as titanium and aluminum with a high degree of geometric complexity and high precision. This antenna is one of the three communications antennas on the Perseverance robot. This work was carried out for Sener Aeroespacial, the company that designed, manufactured, verified, and integrated the mechanism that moves this antenna for its customer Airbus, the main contractor for the system.
Furthermore, this high-precision antenna allows direct two-way communication between the rover and the Earth monitoring stations without the need to pass through an intermediate satellite. Among other things, it is being used to send instructions from the Earth each morning for tasks that the robot must carry out that day.
“For us, participating in this project has been a major challenge and the confirmation that we have a specialist professional team in engineering, production, and quality with expert knowledge on machining and metrology, essential requirements for ensuring the high precision required by the aerospace sector and by customers such as Sener Aeroespacial”, said the commercial director of Goimek, Marc Souto.
High precision for communicating with Earth
Taken into consideration in the manufacture of these parts were both their geometry, to ensure that the machine functions correctly, and the use of materials that were light to save costs, but at the same time are very tough and durable to withstand the extreme temperatures on Mars.
“The machined parts that we manufactured for the robot´s antenna are, for the most part, aluminum with very thin and high-precision walls, with very tight tolerances and large open spaces to lighten the weight, vital for saving costs of the devices that are sent into space” added the person responsible for the aerospace sector at Goimek, Jon García.
In addition to the aluminum parts, Goimek also manufactured titanium parts, a hard material that is difficult to machine and requires extensive experience in its handling.
The cooperative has a long history of more than 30 years in the aerospace sector. It is currently participating in important space missions through the manufacture of complex and critical parts for projects such as JUICE, Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, and the Solar Orbiter, SolO, (scientific satellite for solar observation developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the collaboration of NASA), among others.
About Goimek
Goimek is a company that specializes in high-precision machining and large part machining with more than 50 years of experience in offering integrated and specialist solutions to customers in sectors such as aerospace, machine tool, wind energy, and industrial resources, among others. The company forms part of the Danobatgroup business group and integrates all the needs of the machined part supply chain from the purchase of the raw material to the verification and certification of the machined parts.
About Danobatgroup
With a track record of 65 years in the field of technologies applied to industrial manufacturing, Danobatgroup has a workforce made up of more than 1300 highly qualified people. The group is an international benchmark in the machine tool and advanced production system sector.
This content was originally published on the Danobat Group website.