Related papers: Autonomous Multirobot Excavation for Lunar Applica…
This paper presents a new swarm intelligence-based approach to deal with the cooperative path planning problem of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which is essential for the automatic inspection of infrastructure. The approach uses a 3D…
The discovery of ice deposits in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar North and South Pole Moon presents an important opportunity for In-Situ Resource Utilization. These ice deposits maybe the source for sustaining a lunar base or…
Ants are six-legged insects that can carry loads ten times heavier than their body weight. Since having six-legs, they are intrinsically stable. They are powerful and can carry heavy loads. For these reasons, in this paper a new parallel…
With the complexity of lunar exploration missions, the moon needs to have a higher level of autonomy. Environmental perception and navigation algorithms are the foundation for lunar rovers to achieve autonomous exploration. The development…
Legged robots are promising candidates for exploring challenging areas on low-gravity bodies such as the Moon, Mars, or asteroids, thanks to their advanced mobility on unstructured terrain. However, as planetary robots' power and thermal…
Missions such as the Ingenuity helicopter have shown the advantages of using novel locomotion modes to increase the scientific return of planetary exploration missions. Legged robots can further expand the reach and capability of future…
Today AUVs operation still remains restricted to very particular tasks with low real autonomy due to battery restrictions. Efficient motion planning and mission scheduling are principle requirement toward advance autonomy and facilitate the…
In disaster response and situation assessment, robots have great potential in reducing the risks to the safety and health of first responders. As the situations encountered and the required capabilities of the robots deployed in such…
In an era marked by renewed interest in lunar exploration and the prospect of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, innovative approaches supporting mission preparation and astronaut training are imperative. To this end,…
Autonomous terrain classification is an important problem in planetary navigation, whether the goal is to identify scientific sites of interest or to traverse treacherous areas safely. Past Martian rovers have relied on human operators to…
Modular robots offer reconfigurability and fault tolerance essential for lunar missions, but require controllers that adapt safely to real-world disturbances. We build on our previous hardware-agnostic actuator synchronization in Motion…
This work introduces a novel approach for Titan exploration based on soft morphing aerial robots leveraging the use of flexible adaptive materials. The controlled deformation of the multirotor arms, actuated by a combination of a pneumatic…
Future infrastructure construction on the lunar surface will require semi- or fully-autonomous operation from robots deployed at the build site. In particular, tasks such as electrical outfitting necessitate transport, routing, and fine…
This paper investigates the mission planning problem for spacecraft confronting orbital debris to achieve autonomous avoidance. Firstly, combined with the avoidance requirements, a closed-loop framework of autonomous avoidance for orbital…
Exploration of extreme or remote environments such as Mars is often recognized as an opportunity for multi-robot systems. However, this poses challenges for maintaining robust inter-robot communication without preexisting infrastructure. It…
Tactful coordination on earth between hundreds of operators from diverse disciplines and backgrounds is needed to ensure that Martian rovers have a high likelihood of achieving their science goals while enduring the harsh environment of the…
Future multi-spacecraft missions require robust autonomous trajectory optimization capabilities to ensure safe and efficient rendezvous operations. This capability hinges on solving non-convex optimal control problems in real-time, although…
This work introduces a novel, nature-inspired neural architecture search (NAS) algorithm based on ant colony optimization, Continuous Ant-based Neural Topology Search (CANTS), which utilizes synthetic ants that move over a continuous search…
NASA's forthcoming Lunar Gateway space station, which will be uncrewed most of the time, will need to operate with an unprecedented level of autonomy. One key challenge is enabling the Canadarm3, the Gateway's external robotic system, to…
The goal of the Mars Sample Return campaign is to collect soil samples from the surface of Mars and return them to Earth for further study. The samples will be acquired and stored in metal tubes by the Perseverance rover and deposited on…