Related papers: Autonomous Multirobot Excavation for Lunar Applica…
The paper proposes a reliable and robust planning solution to the long range robotic navigation problem in extremely cluttered environments. A two-layer planning architecture is proposed that leverages both the environment map and the…
The rapid growth of cislunar activities, including lunar landings, the Lunar Gateway, and in-space refueling stations, requires advances in cost-efficient trajectory design and reliable integration of navigation and remote sensing.…
NASA's Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE) mission, slated for flight to the Moon's Reiner Gamma region in 2025/2026, is designed to demonstrate multi-agent autonomous exploration of the Lunar surface and…
Geophysical imaging of the lunar near-surface structure will be key for in situ resource utilization, identification of hazards for crews and infrastructure, and answering science questions on the formation and interior of the Moon. The…
Advances in planetary robotics have led to wheeled robots that have beamed back invaluable science data from the surface of the Moon and Mars. However, these large wheeled robots are unable to access rugged environments such as cliffs,…
This paper presents a self-contained system for the robust utilization of aerial robots in the autonomous exploration of cave environments to help human explorers, first responders, and speleologists. The proposed system is generally…
Space exploration missions have seen use of increasingly sophisticated robotic systems with ever more autonomy. Deep learning promises to take this even a step further, and has applications for high-level tasks, like path planning, as well…
Today, robotics is an auspicious and fast-growing branch of technology that involves the manufacturing, design, and maintenance of robot machines that can operate in an autonomous fashion and can be used in a wide variety of applications…
The exploration of planetary surfaces is predominately unmanned, calling for a landing vehicle and an autonomous and/or teleoperated rover. Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques can be leveraged for better mission…
In contrast to manned missions, the application of autonomous robots for space exploration missions decreases the safety concerns of the exploration missions while extending the exploration distance since returning transportation is not…
The Artemis program requires robotic and crewed lunar rovers for resource prospecting and exploitation, construction and maintenance of facilities, and human exploration. These rovers must support navigation for 10s of kilometers (km) from…
This paper presents ADAMANT, a set of software modules that provides grasp planning capabilities to an existing robot planning and control software framework. Our presented work allows a user to adapt a manipulation task to be used under…
As humans venture deeper into space, the need for a lunar settlement, housing the first group of settlers, grows steadily. By means of new technologies such as in situ resource utilisation (ISRU) as well as computational design, this goal…
Commercial lunar activity is accelerating the need for reliable surface infrastructure and routine operations to keep it functioning. Maintenance tasks such as inspection, cleaning, dust mitigation, and minor repair are essential to…
This paper presents RANT, an ant-inspired multi-robot exploration framework for noisy, uncertain environments. A team of differential-drive robots navigates a 10 x 10 m terrain, collects noisy probe measurements of a hidden richness field,…
A large number of robotic and human-assisted missions to the Moon and Mars are forecast. NASA's efforts to learn about the geology and makeup of these celestial bodies rely heavily on the use of robotic arms. The safety and redundancy…
This document presents the study conducted during the European Moon Rover System Pre-Phase A project, in which we have developed a lunar rover system, with a modular approach, capable of carrying out different missions with different…
Risk to human astronauts and interplanetary distance causing slow and limited communication drives scientists to pursue an autonomous approach to exploring distant planets, such as Mars. A portion of exploration of Mars has been conducted…
This paper presents the design, development and testing of GiAnt, an affordable hexapod which is inspired by the efficient motions of ants. The decision to model GiAnt after ants rather than other insects is rooted in ants' natural…
Over the past decade, the NASA Autonomous Systems and Operations (ASO) project has developed and demonstrated numerous autonomy enabling technologies employing AI techniques. Our work has employed AI in three distinct ways to enable…