Bendable Dust Shields
Commercially available BEDS for dust mitigation off-world and on-world.
Bendable Electrostatic Dust Shields (BEDS) technology was developed in collaboration with NASA’s Electro-statics laboratory at Kennedy Space Center to produce large scale BEDS of many square meters. It incorporates high voltage electronics to produce pulsed waves that clear the surface of dust, or prevent it from adhering.
- Dust detection mechanism
- Electrical breakdown protection
- Fully automated operation
- Dynamically bendable compound curvatures
- Low power operation
- Extremely thin and lightweight
- Opaque or optically transparent
-
Dust removal
- Solar panels
- Walkways
- Habitats
- Equipment
- Sensors
- Radiators
- O-ring seals
-
Dust prevention
- Rotary bearings
- Actuators
- Spacesuit visors
- Sample containers
- View ports and windows
-
Dust transportation
- x, y, and z directional control
- ISRU
- “vacuum” cleaners
- Terrestrial mining operations
Specifications
| Applied Voltages | From 0 to +/-3kV |
| Power | << 1 Watt/m2 |
| Mass | ~ 100g/m2 |
| Durability | >105 bending cycles |
| Continuous dust detection | - |
| Choice of opaque or optically transparent | - |
| Choice of space rated materials | - |
