The Swarm mission primary objectives are the study of core dynamics, geo-dynamo processes and core-mantle interaction, mapping of lithospheric magnetisation and its geological interpretation, determination of the 3D electrical conductivity of the mantle, and investigation of electric currents flowing in the magnetosphere and ionosphere.
The secondary objectives are identifying the ocean circulation by its magnetic signature and quantifying the magnetic forcing of the upper atmosphere.
Swarms A and C make up the lower paid of satellites flying next to each other. The main components listed in the paper for the Swarm mission are as follows
The Absolute Scalar Magnetometer measures the strength of the magnetic field
The Electrical Field Instrument consists of two components: the Langmuir Probe (LP) and the Thermal Ion Imager (TII). The probes provide measurements of the electron density, electron temperature and spacecraft potential.
The Vector Field Magnetometer is Swarm’s core instrument. It makes high-precision measurements of the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field,
The Star Tracker is composed of three Camera Head Units (CHUs) mounted on the innermost end of the optical bench
The GPS Receiver receives signals from any GPS satellites visible to its antenna. The GPSR provides an accurate location and time reference to the main instruments on board the Swarm satellites.
The Accelerometer measures the satellite’s non-gravitational acceleration in its respective orbit.
According to the paper, the returns from increased numbers of units are at 3250 units in a swarm (but it can go higher if you take out damage as a factor). Larger swarms can cover greater distances quicker but the efficiency of the individual units decreases even if the utility of the swarm is increasing. The number of ‘agents’ in a swarm should be optimized for the mission parameters. Swarms can share ‘agents’ for unforeseen circumstances or if the mission objective changes. Using Financial or quantitative mathematics to assign risk is based on historical observations, we need to do lots of different missions before our data is reliable.
Value at Risk strategies for robot swarms in hazardous environments
Hunt, Edmund, Cullen, Conor, Hauert, Sabine