Related papers: Intelligent Unmanned Explorer for Deep Space Explo…
Data from the TESS mission will be used to discover hundreds of small planets amenable to radial velocity (RV) followup. Often, RV observations are obtained until a particular fractional precision on the inferred mass is achieved. I show…
This paper introduces a novel Monte Carlo (MC) method to simulate the evolution of the low-earth orbit environment, enhancing the MIT Orbital Capacity Analysis Tool (MOCAT). In recent decades, numerous space environment models have been…
Space exploration and establishing human presence on other planets demand advanced technology and effective collaboration between robots and astronauts. Efficient space resource utilization is also vital for extraterrestrial settlements.…
Hayabusa asteroid explorer successfully released the sample capsule to Australia on June 13, 2010. Since the Earth reentry phase of sample return was critical, many backup plans for predicting the landing location were prepared. This paper…
The ability to traverse an unknown environment is crucial for autonomous robot operations. However, due to the limited sensing capabilities and system constraints, approaching this problem with a single robot agent can be slow, costly, and…
Efficient exploration of unknown environments is crucial for autonomous robots, especially in confined and large-scale scenarios with limited communication. To address this challenge, we propose a collaborative exploration framework for a…
We present a fully integrated autonomous multi- robot aerial system for finding and collecting moving and static objects with unknown locations. This task addresses multiple relevant problems in search and rescue (SAR) robotics such as…
Autonomous spacecraft relative navigation technology has been planned for and applied to many famous space missions. The development of on-board electronics systems has enabled the use of vision-based and LiDAR-based methods to achieve…
Exploring planetary bodies with lower gravity, such as the moon and Mars, allows legged robots to utilize jumping as an efficient form of locomotion thus giving them a valuable advantage over traditional rovers for exploration. Motivated by…
Recent studies have found the earth's peculiar velocity to be significant in microwave background based tests for compact cosmic topology, and modifications to these tests have been proposed. Tests of non-gaussianity, weak lensing analysis…
Interestingness recognition is crucial for decision making in autonomous exploration for mobile robots. Previous methods proposed an unsupervised online learning approach that can adapt to environments and detect interesting scenes quickly,…
Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become a focal point of research, with both established companies and startups investing heavily in their development. This paper presents our iterative process in developing a robust autonomous…
Building and maintaining a space object catalog is necessary for space situational awareness. To realize this, one great challenge is uncooperative spacecraft maneuver detection because unknown maneuver events can lead to deviated orbital…
The purpose of this paper is to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a quadcopter with the capability of video surveillance, map coordinates, a deployable parachute with a medicine kit or a food pack as a payload, a collision…
Interstellar comets arrive with key ingredients for deep-space platforms already in place: volatile inventories convertible to propellant, natural rotation providing continuous attitude variation, and hyperbolic trajectories that carry them…
The Daedalus 2 mission aboard REXUS 29 is a technology demonstrator for an alternative descent mechanism for very high altitude drops based on auto-rotation. It consists of two probes that are ejected from a sounding rocket at an altitude…
Sky survey telescopes and powerful targeted telescopes play complementary roles in astronomy. In order to investigate the nature and characteristics of the motions of very faint objects, a flexibly-pointed instrument capable of high…
One effective approach for equipping artificial agents with sensorimotor skills is to use self-exploration. To do this efficiently is critical, as time and data collection are costly. In this study, we propose an exploration mechanism that…
Since the beginning of robotic interplanetary exploration nearly six decades ago, successful atmospheric entry has been accomplished at Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Titan. More entry probe missions are planned to Venus, Titan, and…
Robotic spacecraft have helped expand our reach for many planetary exploration missions. Most ground mobile planetary exploration robots use wheeled or modified wheeled platforms. Although extraordinarily successful at completing intended…