“The members of the Antarctic research expedition took turns writing articles monthly. I was excited to read these articles every month because I wondered what kind of work they were doing and what their daily lives in Antarctica were like. I have loved tinkering with machines ever since I was a child, so I was particularly impressed by the columns on antenna inspections and facility maintenance. I was born and raised in the warm climate of Kagoshima, so I was fascinated by what it would be like to live in a frigid land at the edge of the world.”

“After enrolling at the National Institute of Technology, Kagoshima College, I devoted the next five years of my life to the Kosen Robocon (a robot contest for technical college students). Later, I decided to transfer to Ritsumeikan as a third-year student and work on field robotics in the master's program. I wanted to develop a robot that could be used outdoors and actually put it into action to help solve problems on site. In the lab, we are building robots to inspect the inside of sewage and gas pipes, and we are also doing research and development on robots that can work in other harsh environments, like underwater, in oil, in volcanoes, and on the surface of the Moon.”

“The selection process for the position included fieldwork with Dr. Saiki. Dr. Saiki, who developed the spectrographic camera on the Small Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), told me all about the expedition, which made me realize just how much I would like to go Antarctica with the next expedition.”

“We will apply this penetrator technology to the observation of glacier movement in Antarctica. Like the Moon, Antarctica has many places that are inaccessible to humans. Even if you want to go, it is extremely dangerous because you don't know where the crevasses are. So, we will drop a penetrator from the sky and take measurements. Onboard instruments include a seismograph, an infrasound sensor that collects the sound of the glacier, and a GPS. The meteorological and geographical conditions in Antarctica are very different from those of the Moon and Earth's volcanoes, both of which are places where penetrators have been used in the past. Therefore, it is necessary to design and develop elements, including the power supply system, the performance of electronic circuits in relation to temperature and environment, and the performance of the communication system, so that penetrators can be applied to observations in the Antarctic. I will be in charge of basic research related to the installing and separating the power generation equipment necessary for long-term observations.”

“We are planning to leave Japan in December when Antarctica will be experiencing a midnight sun. We will conduct experiments on the separator between the instrument-mounted part of the penetrator and the power generator, which will be necessary to realize day-and-night power generation in Antarctica going forward.
The main objective of these experiment is to determine whether the separator will work properly when a penetrator equipped with the separator is dropped from a drone or helicopter and penetrates the Antarctic ice sheet. I am sure that the knowledge gained from our experience in the harsh Antarctic climate will be useful for other research like volcano observations and future observations in space.” The main objective of these experiment is to determine whether the separator will work properly when a penetrator equipped with the separator is dropped from a drone or helicopter and penetrates the Antarctic ice sheet. I am sure that the knowledge gained from our experience in the harsh Antarctic climate will be useful for other research like volcano observations and future observations in space.”

“That was the first time we actually dropped a penetrator. When dropped from a height of 150 m, the acceleration upon impact with the ground can be several hundred G (1.0 G = 9.80665 m/s). So, the shock-absorbing mechanism was crushed flat, and parts of the internal circuitry broke. In that test, we dropped the penetrator on a hard piece of ground, but I think the conditions will be different in the snowfields of Antarctica, so one of the issues we have to address is improving the accuracy of our vibration predictions.”

“We joined a five-day, four-night training camp that simulates life in Antarctica. We had to climb snowy mountains, and we did rope work training to practice pulling up people who had fallen into crevasses. We also practiced walking off the trail, relying only on a map and compass to guide us. There were some snowstorms during the training, and everything was a new experience for me, including setting up tents in freezing temperatures. Of course, we were accompanied by an instructor, but almost none of the eight team members had any prior experience in snowy mountains. I am from a southern Japan, so this was my first real time in a snowy mountain environment. Since it was a kind of survival experience different from ordinary mountaineering in snowy terrain, I couldn't help but enjoy it.”

“The seismograph is very important, of course, but so is the infrasound sensor because it uses sound to tell us about glacier movement. All of this data will be transmitted to Japan via a communications satellite, so we also need power for data transmission. With regard to the power generator, we want to develop a stable separation mechanism, and above all, we would like to enable long-term observation in Antarctica. What’s more, we are looking to develop power generation technologies that can be utilized in volcanoes, on the Moon, and even on Mars or other planets. I am always looking for ways to use engineering research to solve scientific problems. So, if we can use scientific observation engineering technologies like the ones we will use to measure the movement of glaciers to help solve some other geophysical problem, then nothing would make me happier."

“I don’t get seasick very easily, so I am looking forward to the rocking of the ship. More than anything, having been able to work on the same project with many researchers, including Dr. Satoshi Tanaka of JAXA, who is leading the penetrator team, has been a great learning experience for me in terms of my career development. I don't think it's easy to get an opportunity like this where you can see and learn first-hand about how researchers live and the activities they conduct on a daily basis.”

“I expect that my experience in Antarctica will definitely benefit my study of field robotics. Actually using machines in the harshest environment on earth is sure to be applicable to other fields like agriculture and fisheries, for example. In the future, I want to be the kind of engineer who takes robots into the field to solve problems. I am in the process of learning from the older expedition members that if you are interested in something, you should just dive right in.”