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LPRC projects at EGU 2021

This year, following the company’s tradition to present its projects at the EGU General Assembly – 2017, 2019 and 2020 -, LPRC will present and discuss five projects on this year’s edition. Due to the travel and health restrictions in place the event will be held online.

The EGU 2021 event (#vEGU21) will host presentations in a unique style: each abstract will be given a 2-minute timeslot  to make a quick presentation based on a 1-slide presentation. After that, participants can enter chat rooms to discuss the abstract and the presentations with the authors.

Below you can find the projects and materials that LPRC will present during the EGU 2021 online event:

Feel free to have a look at the projects and materials provided and join the discussion at the given times – science is for everyone!

LPRC joins PRO-ACT project TRR session

On 16 February 2021, the PRO-ACT project had its TRR – Test Readiness Review – meeting with the EC and an elected group of space experts – the PSA. Our team took part of this meeting to present results on the preparation of the artificial lunar analogue for the final demonstrations.

The meeting got together all the project partners and reviewers to show results, analyse outcomes and prepare the final demonstrationa activities in a series of presentations and organic discussions. The presentations mainly about WP4 – Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Test. As part of the work developed under this Work Package, LPRC (Luís Lopes) presented the design and preparation of the lunar analogue for the final project demonstrations. This lunar analogue is established in Bremen, Germany, at DFKI’s (one of the project partners facilitites). Luís gave an overview of the activities that resulted in the creation of this artificial lunar analogue, including details on the testbed, the simulant chosen as regolith representative and the distribution of the testing elements in the available space.

Follow the PRO-ACT website for more news on this exciting project!

LPRC during 2020 – a summary

The past year was an atypical one, there is no denying it. Despite the many problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, LPRC still managed to keep up with its work plans. All team activities – where the EU-funded projects are of most importance – ran successfully. Although not without a certain degree of adaptation. A quick summary of our activities on each of our EU projects during 2020 is given below:

INTERMIN: LPRC participated in the project’s main discussions and contributed with dissemination activities. The team’s biggest workshare was done in 2019 regarding WP2 – Raw Materials Sector Skills, Gaps and Needs.

MACARONIGHT: In 2020, LPRC coordinated the second installment of  the MACARONIGHT project after its success in 2o19. Coordination included preparation and monitoring of activities in different islands as well as analysis of the outcomes.

PRO-ACT: For this space project, LPRC contributed with geological information for the preparation of the lunar analogues where the robotic elements shall be tested during 2021. LPRC also presented the project during the EGU 2020 event.

ROBOMINERS: LPRC leads WP8 – Active clustering and roadmapping – and during 2020 the team contributed to the exchange of information with several projects and initiatives, kickstarted Focus Groups discussions and launched the Horizon Scanning activities. LPRC also contributed with the dissemination of the project at several opportunities.

AGEO: Within AGEO, the team leads communication and dissemination efforts. In 2020, besides the outreach efforts, LPRC also contributed to strengthening the impact of the project by leveraging communication with other EU projects and initiatives.

CROWDTHERMAL: During 2020, LPRC’s role was two-fold. First, the team largely contributed to the communication efforts with the management of social media channels and preparation of material such as factsheets. Second, LPRC kickstarted activities for WP4 – Integrated Development Schemes, which it leads.

ENGIE: LPRC started discussions and prepared ENGIE-related activities for the Researchers Night in 2020. For this task, LPRC hosted a high number of (online) workshops. The team also contributed with dissemination of the project, as seen with its participation on the EGU 2020 event.

UNEXUP: Continuing LPRC’s tasks from UNEXMIN, in UNEXUP the team also leads dissemination efforts. Therefore, LPRC was responsible for the development of all outreach material – both online and physical. Another important task, was the team’s contribution to the market analysis and go-to-market strategy set for the project’s implementation.

MOBI-US: Within this education-based project LPRC had two main tasks. It led outreach efforts during the whole year with the development and implementation of dissemination actions. The other relevant task was the contribution to the major guidelines for the implementation of the MOBI-US network. Here, LPRC contributed with an extensive analysis on the current and future gaps of the raw materials sector.

Besides contributing to EU-projects LPRC was also active in other areas including policy analysis, science communication and use of foresight methodologies.

We hope to have an even better 2021 with more projects and more work!

EGU 2020 online event from LPRC’s eyes

Last week, the LPRC team presented some of its projects at the EGU General Assembly 2020, an yearly event that brings together geoscientists from all over the world to discuss several geoscientific topics. This is the third time that LPRC participates in this event, following the years of 2017 and 2019.

Due to the current situation and the restrictions in place, the EGU General Assembly of this year was held online. LPRC presented five of its running projects from Monday (4th May) through Friday (8th May). The corresponding presentation materials can still be seen and commented on until the 31st of May – find more here.

During the many online sessions, LPRC presented projects from different geoscientific related areas including new mineral exploration methods, space technology for moon exploration and citizens observatories for geohazards. The interest in the presented projects was showcased by the questions that the audience – through chat-based interaction – had for the team.

Below are the number of users participating in each of the sessions where LPRC presented its projects:

  • PRO-ACT on the session “Open session on experimental and modelling techniques for the exploration and sustainable utilization of the Moon” – 46 users
  • ROBOMINERS on the session “Energy, Resources and the Environment” – 55 users
  • AGEO on the session “Hydrology, Society and Environmental change” – 168 users
  • ENGIE on the session “Enabling Women in Geoscience: Inspiration, Challenges and Best Practice” – 176 users
  • UNEXUP on the session “State-of-the-art in mineral exploration” – 66 users

LPRC was glad to once more be part of the EGU General Assembly event and able to share innovative mining solutions, how to solve challenges in space exploration, helping to monitor geohazards and bring gender equality to the geoscientific fields. The team aims to participate once again next year with new projects and more innovative ideas!

EGU 2020 online – with LPRC participation

Similarly to the past editions of 2017 and 2019, LPRC is set to participate in this year’s European Geosciences Union with presentation materials on some of the projects where the company participates. This year, due to the restrictions imposed on the COVID-19 situation, the event will be held online.

The EGU 2020 online event will have many activities and discussions running from the 4th to the 8th of May. Posters, talks and other debates will be transformed into online available materials and chat talks will be held to engage in discussion with scientists.

Below you can find the projects and materials that the LPRC members are going to present during next week’s EGU 2020 online event:

Feel free to have a look at the projects and materials provided and join the discussion at the given times – science is for everyone!

PRO-ACT – Preliminary Design Review, Bremen

On the 7th and 8th of November LPRC participated in the PRO-ACT‘s Preliminary Design Review meeting, in Bremen, Germany. During this two-day event, LPRC contributed to the discussions with information on possibilities for field tests, dissemination opportunities and exploitation measures.

The most recent PRO-ACT meeting was held in Bremen, Germany, where the partners that are developing an innovative concept for Planetary Robots Deployed for Assembly and Construction Tasks using lunar analogues, got together to discuss and present the most recent developments in the project. The work development under WP2 –  Preliminary Design and Modelling was presented and the official start of WP3 – Detailed Design of Demonstrator and Related Test Setup was done. Together with these, discussions on project dissemination efforts and on future exploitation possibilities completed the fruitful two-days event.

The partners had the opportunity to see the robotics laboratory of DFKI, which hosted the meeting. DFKI recently developed a robot – named MANTIS – that is planned to be used under the PRO-ACT’s line of work, together with robots from other project partners.

LPRC was once again glad to contribute to the advancement of the project’s tasks with the support to the identification and preparation of the lunar analogue missions at indoor and outdoor sites in Europe, a major task, essential to prove the concept developed under PRO-ACT. LPRC’s experience on dissemination and exploitation of the project’s results is also of a valuable nature to the implementation of the project.

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