Cryobot Performance Assessment in Realistic Ice Environment with Cryotwin

Cryobot Performance Assessment in Realistic Ice Environment with Cryotwin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Cryobot Performance Assessment in Realistic Ice Environment with Cryotwin Dipankul Bhattacharya, Julia Kowalski This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7671220/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Space exploration for the existence of extraterrestrial life has been a topic of paramount interest. The icy moons of our solar system are among the promising candidates for potentially hosting life. Characterized by a thick outer ice shell that covers a subsurface ocean layer, the definitive establishment of life on these moons would require examining the water physically. A comparatively convenient way to access the water is to melt through the ice shell, i.e., thermal drilling, using cryobots. Before a cryobot can be used on an icy moon, the Antarctic ice sheets serve as a suitable terrestrial analog testing site. Among several constraining factors, total energy and transit time are of substantial significance for these missions. A digital twin that offers a virtual framework, integrating physics and data, can help assess these constrained scenarios and inform decision-making. In this work, we present Cryotwin, a digital twin for cryobots that enables the evaluation of its performance in a realistic ice environment. Specifically, cryobot velocity, which controls transit time, and efficiency, which controls total energy, are considered. It is illustrated how Cryotwin can be used throughout different mission phases, enabling different use cases. In addition, we discuss the underlying state-of-the-art mathematical model in Cryotwin, which represents the complex multi-physics phase-change process observed during thermal drilling. Our initial results demonstrate the potential of Cryotwin in facilitating cryobot design and development, as well as aiding in crucial decisions involving optimization of the total energy and transit time, subject to operating conditions. Digital Twin Cryobot Icy Moon Ice Melting Multiphysics Space Exploration Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 24 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 28 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 22 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7671220","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":537192791,"identity":"189c3422-2a44-4bd6-aee5-ef72465ee760","order_by":0,"name":"Dipankul Bhattacharya","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dipankul","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhattacharya","suffix":""},{"id":537192792,"identity":"b700fb21-3654-495c-ab0f-a0eed7eff0c0","order_by":1,"name":"Julia Kowalski","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julia","middleName":"","lastName":"Kowalski","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-22 09:38:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7671220/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7671220/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":94992744,"identity":"f094e259-42f6-47d1-b20b-6a7af1d2285d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-03 07:22:02","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4572,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"3b43f4b2e82145689047731f8e258ccc.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7671220/v1/0235d5516ca8328035aac8a7.json"},{"id":95000573,"identity":"164e77a6-6793-45a5-bd4d-985e556f63b6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-03 08:59:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3338516,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CryotwinJIRS.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7671220/v1_covered_942468b6-84e2-46e2-9765-76fa6e3d72d1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Cryobot Performance Assessment in Realistic Ice Environment with Cryotwin","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-intelligent-and-robotic-systems","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Intelligent \u0026 Robotic Systems](https://link.springer.com/journal/10846)","snPcode":"10846","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/10846/3","title":"Journal of Intelligent \u0026 Robotic Systems","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Open","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Digital Twin, Cryobot, Icy Moon, Ice Melting, Multiphysics, Space Exploration","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7671220/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7671220/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Space exploration for the existence of extraterrestrial life has been a topic of paramount interest. 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