Related papers: Electronics and Sensor Subsystem Design for Daedal…
In recent years, interplanetary exploration has gained significant momentum, leading to a focus on the development of launch vehicles. However, the critical technology of edl mechanisms has not received the same level of attention and…
DAEdALUS, a Decay-At-rest Experiment for delta_CP studies At the Laboratory for Underground Science, provides a new approach to the search for CP violation in the neutrino sector. The design utilizes low-cost, high-power proton accelerators…
Due to the high performance and safety requirements of self-driving applications, the complexity of modern autonomous driving systems (ADS) has been growing, instigating the need for more sophisticated hardware which could add to the energy…
This paper presents innovative solutions to critical challenges in planetary and deep-space exploration electronics. We synthesize findings across diverse mission profiles, highlighting advances in: (1) MARTIAN positioning systems with…
Aerial manipulation combines the versatility and speed of flying platforms with the functional capabilities of mobile manipulation, which presents significant challenges due to the need for precise localization and control. Traditionally,…
This article presents the CERBERUS robotic system-of-systems, which won the DARPA Subterranean Challenge Final Event in 2021. The Subterranean Challenge was organized by DARPA with the vision to facilitate the novel technologies necessary…
Semi or completely autonomous unmanned vehicles, remotely driven or controlled through artificial intelligence, are instrumental to foster space exploration. One of the most essential tasks of a rover is terrain traversing which requires…
During the 1970s members of the British Interplanetary Society embarked on a landmark theoretical engineering design study to send a probe to Barnard's star. Project Daedalus was a two-stage vehicle employing electron beam driven inertial…
Drones are a promising technology for autonomous data collection and indoor sensing. In situations when human-controlled UAVs may not be practical or dependable, such as in uncharted or dangerous locations, the usage of autonomous UAVs…
Our Robust, Explainable Autonomy for Scientific Icy Moon Operations (REASIMO) effort contributes to NASA's Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTech) program, which explores science platform technologies for ocean worlds…
The European Proximity Operation Simulator (EPOS) of the DLR-German Aerospace Center is a robotics-based simulator that aims at validating and verifying a satellite docking phase. The generic concept features a robotics tracking system…
Small solar system bodies are becoming increasingly important as missions like NASA's OSIRIS-REx show. However, the study of the characteristics and behavior of these objects on Earth is a challenge as the simulation of their environmental…
Autonomous exploration of subterranean environments constitutes a major frontier for robotic systems as underground settings present key challenges that can render robot autonomy hard to achieve. This has motivated the DARPA Subterranean…
The paper proposes an alternative to the Foucault pendulum for detecting various movements of rotation of the Earth. Calculations suggest that if the duration of a "free" fall becomes longer the eastward deflection will be amplified in…
The Daedalus experiment seeks to evaluate neutrino scattering effects that go beyond the standard model. Modular accelerators are employed to produce 800 MeV proton beams at the megawatt power level directed toward a target, producing…
Autonomous satellite servicing missions must execute close-range rendezvous under stringent safety and operational constraints while remaining computationally tractable for onboard use and robust to uncertainty in sensing, actuation, and…
Many unmanned aerial vehicle surveillance and monitoring applications require observations at precise locations over long periods of time, ideally days or weeks at a time (e.g. ecosystem monitoring), which has been impractical due to…
To extend the limited scope of autonomy used in prior missions for operation in distant and complex environments, there is a need to further develop and mature autonomy that jointly reasons over multiple subsystems, which we term…
Bipedal robots are a prime example of systems which exhibit highly nonlinear dynamics, underactuation, and undergo complex dissipative impacts. This paper discusses methods used to overcome a wide variety of uncertainties, with the end…
Planetary exploration missions require robots capable of navigating extreme and unknown environments. While wheeled rovers have dominated past missions, their mobility is limited to traversable surfaces. Legged robots, especially…