Related papers: Enabling Commercial Autonomous Space Robotic Explo…
In this paper we present an overview of the methods and systems that give rise to a flying robotic system capable of autonomous inspection, surveying, comprehensive multi-modal mapping and inventory tracking of construction sites with high…
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…
Despite recent major advances in robotics research, massive injections of capital into robotics startups, and significant market appetite for robotic solutions, large-scale real-world deployments of robotic systems remain relatively scarce…
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…
Autonomous aerial robots are increasingly being deployed in real-world scenarios, where transparent glass obstacles present significant challenges to reliable navigation. Researchers have investigated the use of non-contact sensors and…
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…
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…
Autonomous exploration of unknown environments has been widely applied in inspection, surveillance, and search and rescue. In exploration task, the basic requirement for robots is to detect the unknown space as fast as possible. In this…
This study develops an AI-based implementation of autonomous On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) mission to assist with spacecraft collision avoidance maneuvers (CAMs). We propose an autonomous `servicer' trained with Reinforcement Learning (RL) to…
If humanity is ever to consider substantial, long-term colonization of Mars, the resources needed are going to be extensive. For a long-term human presence on Mars to be established, serious thought would need to be given to terraforming…
The field of autonomous navigation for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is in continuous growth and increasing levels of autonomy have been reached in the last few years. However, the task becomes more challenging when the focus is on the…
One of the fundamental limiting factors in planetary exploration is the autonomous capabilities of planetary exploration rovers. This study proposes a novel methodology for trustworthy autonomous multi-robot teams which incorporates data…
Mapping and navigation have gone hand-in-hand since long before robots existed. Maps are a key form of communication, allowing someone who has never been somewhere to nonetheless navigate that area successfully. In the context of…
While much research explores improving robot capabilities, there is a deficit in researching how robots are expected to perform tasks safely, especially in high-risk problem domains. Robots must earn the trust of human operators in order to…
In this second of three short papers, I introduce some of the basic concepts of space robotics with an emphasis on some specific challenging areas of research that are peculiar to the application of robotics to space infrastructure…
Future short or long-term space missions require a new generation of monitoring and diagnostic systems due to communication impasses as well as limitations in specialized crew and equipment. Machine learning supported diagnostic systems…
Aerial field robotics research represents the domain of study that aims to equip unmanned aerial vehicles - and as it pertains to this chapter, specifically Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs)- with the ability to operate in real-life environments…
Small-scale autonomous vehicle platforms provide a cost-effective environment for developing and testing advanced driving systems. However, specific configurations within this scale are underrepresented, limiting full awareness of their…
One common and desirable application of robots is exploring potentially hazardous and unstructured environments. Air-ground collaboration offers a synergistic approach to addressing such exploration challenges. In this paper, we demonstrate…
Currently, commercially available intelligent transport robots that are capable of carrying up to 90kg of load can cost \$5,000 or even more. This makes real-world experimentation prohibitively expensive and limits the applicability of such…