Related papers: Lunar Rover Localization Using Craters as Landmark…
This paper presents an adaptive observer-based navigation strategy for spacecraft in Circular Relative Orbit (CRO) scenarios, addressing challenges in proximity operations like formation flight and uncooperative target inspection. The…
Lunar laser ranging (LLR) to the Apollo retro-reflectors, which features the most long-lasting experiment in testing General Relativity theories, has remained operational over the past four decades. To date, with significant improvement of…
Autonomous precision navigation to land onto the Moon relies on vision sensors. Computer vision algorithms are designed, trained and tested using synthetic simulations. High quality terrain models have been produced by Moon orbiters…
The zero-velocity update (ZUPT) algorithm provides valuable state information to maintain the inertial navigation system (INS) reliability when stationary conditions are satisfied. Employing ZUPT along with leveraging non-holonomic…
Robot mobility is critical for mission success, especially in soft or deformable terrains, where the complex wheel-soil interaction mechanics often leads to excessive wheel slip and sinkage, causing the eventual mission failure. To improve…
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…
Non-geometric mobility hazards such as rover slippage and sinkage posing great challenges to costly planetary missions are closely related to the mechanical properties of terrain. In-situ proprioceptive processes for rovers to estimate…
Impact crater cataloging is an important tool in the study of the geological history of planetary bodies in the Solar System, including dating of surface features and geologic mapping of surface processes. Catalogs of impact craters have…
Terrain assessment is a key aspect for autonomous exploration rovers, surrounding environment recognition is required for multiple purposes, such as optimal trajectory planning and autonomous target identification. In this work we present a…
The identification of impact craters on planetary surfaces provides important information about their geological history. Most studies have relied on individual analysts who map and identify craters and interpret crater statistics. However,…
Accurate estimation of cratering asymmetry on the Moon is crucial for understanding Moon evolution history. Early studies of cratering asymmetry have omitted the contributions of high lunar obliquity and inclination. Here, we include lunar…
The exploration of large-scale unknown environments can benefit from the deployment of multiple robots for collaborative mapping. Each robot explores a section of the environment and communicates onboard pose estimates and maps to a central…
In recent years, prior maps have become a mainstream tool in autonomous navigation. However, commonly available prior maps are still tailored to control-and-decision tasks, and the use of these maps for localization remains largely…
This work addresses the challenge of developing a localization system for an uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) operating autonomously in unstructured outdoor Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environments. The goal is to enable…
It is generally considered that a trustworthy autonomous planetary exploration rover must be able to operate safely and effectively within its environment. Central to trustworthy operation is the ability for the rover to recognise and…
Three possible applications of lunar laser ranging to space geodesy are studied. First, the determination of daily Earth orientation parameters (UT0 and variation of latitude), which is rarely used nowadays in presence of all-year VLBI,…
This paper presents DLL, a fast direct map-based localization technique using 3D LIDAR for its application to aerial robots. DLL implements a point cloud to map registration based on non-linear optimization of the distance of the points 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…
We address the problem of estimating realistic, spatially varying reflectance for complex planetary surfaces such as the lunar regolith, which is critical for high-fidelity rendering and vision-based navigation. Existing lunar rendering…
Mobile autonomy relies on the precise perception of dynamic environments. Robustly tracking moving objects in 3D world thus plays a pivotal role for applications like trajectory prediction, obstacle avoidance, and path planning. While most…