Background

Space debris is a growing problem in our technologically advanced society and we need to take measures to clean up our mess and prevent futures ones to ensure a safe a healthy future for mankind and space exploration. We decided to build this project based on the criteria of being able to create our own game as well as using it as a platform to educate others on the importance of the issue.

Currently three classes of debris are sorted for the ISS which include <1cm, 1cm to 10cm and >10cm. Objects > 10cm can be flagged by radars on the ground while objects <1cm can be absorbed by the structural hull of the ISS. It's the 1cm to 10cm range that becomes problematic for most space orbiting satellites.

What it Does

Our team decided to create an interactive VR game to let players experience what it would be like to walk atop the ISS and collect space junk.

[Our Setup] https://www.screencast.com/t/ONAuIc7bLXvb

We started by setting up our HTC Vives and discussing how we could incorporate our research on space debris and apply it to 3D models provided by NASA. Amidst the assets, we found a fairly detailed model of the ISS and decided to use that as the main driver for our game stage.

[Rigging the ISS in Unity3D] https://www.screencast.com/t/xxiW4oZg

Unity was primarily used in our development since our team members all come from a solid game/VR dev background. With the provided NASA assets and various other tools provided by SteamVR, we quickly assembled an immersive experience for people to see the ISS and our beautiful Earth from various vantage points.

[Treading the ISS] https://www.screencast.com/t/2hfa8R9ib6

NASA Resources and Data Used

[1] Hypervelocity Impacts and Protecting Spacecrafts - https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris/H...

[2] The History of Space Debris - https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic...

[3] ATV Shielding After Impact Test - http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/06/AT...

[4] Radar Measurements - https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/measurements/ra...

[5] How NASA steers the International Space Station around space junk - https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/07/how-nasa-s...

[6] Robonaut Wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robonaut

[7] Orbital Debris Challenges for Space Operations- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa....

[8] Satellite uses giant net to practice capturing space junk - https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/19/17878218/space-...

[9] Assessment Study of Small Space Debris Removal by Laser Satellites - https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa....

3D Models - https://github.com/nasa/NASA-3D-Resources

Space Apps Offers

We consult the local mentors for more information on the Robonaut as well as existing technologies and agencies responsible for clearing, tracking and monitoring space debris. We learned about Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC)'s key role in tracking all the debris in our orbital airspace.

Built With

Unity3D
HTC Vive

Try Out Our Files

Presentation URL: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QYvVUr5fBT...
Source URL: https://bitbucket.org/wywarren/nasahackathon2019/src

What We Learned & Challenges

Over the weekend, we've learned a lot about the complexity of the problem we were presented with as well as how incredibly complex the ISS is. A lot of research was made to figure out which bells and whistles were movable and which ones were not to make a proper control rig for the ISS.

We will try to tackle the task of trying to record our game play in mixed reality as well using a green screen and OBS for compositing.

[Camera Setup with Vive Tracker] https://www.screencast.com/t/cycT3lyGHA4

Future Plans

We will clean up our project and try to take the visual realism to a higher level with adequate time and we hope to submit it to NASA for future educational/entertainment uses.

Our Game

As the protagonist, you control the first person view of Robonaut 2 (R2), the trusty NASA space bot designed to do tasks in space. R2 is equipped with a special magnetic attraction/repulsion gun which can absorb debris in a specific size range that is harmful to the ISS but not detectable by ground radars.

Help R2 collect all the debris around the ISS and launch the debris into the Earth's atmosphere so that it burns up and no longer does harm to other satellites in space.

Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMi-AzeaSU

Requirements

Hardware:
HTC Vive, HTV Vive Pro, Valve Index
Valve Index Controllers x 2
Vive Tracker Optional for MR recording
NVIDIA GTX 1070 Equivalent or greater graphics card
i7 Quad Core Intel CPU
16GB of RAM

Software:
FinalIK - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/animation/final-ik-14290
DOTween Pro - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/dotween-pro-32416
CTAA - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/vfx/shaders/ctaa-nxt-v2-cinematic-temporal-anti-aliasing-153092

Open Sourced!

We've also packaged some of our assets built over the weekend for individual consumption usage into other future projects:

https://github.com/wywarren/QoobitNASAHackathon/blob/master/UnityPackages/earth.unitypackage