Related papers: The ReSWARM Microgravity Flight Experiments: Plann…
Omni-directional mobile robot (OMR) systems have been very popular in academia and industry for their superb maneuverability and flexibility. Yet their potential has not been fully exploited, where the extra degree of freedom in OMR can…
With the ever growing number of space debris in orbit, the need to prevent further space population is becoming more and more apparent. Refueling, servicing, inspection and deorbiting of spacecraft are some example missions that require…
Controlling a team of robots in a coordinated manner is challenging because centralized approaches (where all computation is performed on a central machine) scale poorly, and globally referenced external localization systems may not always…
The implementation of Urban Air Mobility represents a complex challenge in aviation due to the high degree of innovation required across various domains to realize it. From the use of advanced aircraft powered by novel technologies, the…
We introduce and analyze a model for self-reconfigurable robots made up of unit-cube modules. Compared to past models, our model aims to newly capture two important practical aspects of real-world robots. First, modules often do not occupy…
We introduce RAMP, an open-source robotics benchmark inspired by real-world industrial assembly tasks. RAMP consists of beams that a robot must assemble into specified goal configurations using pegs as fasteners. As such, it assesses…
We present planning challenges, methods and preliminary results for a new model-based paradigm for earth observing systems in adaptive remote sensing. Our heuristically guided constraint optimization planner produces coordinated plans for…
This paper presents a hybrid approach that integrates trajectory optimization (TO) and reinforcement learning (RL) for motion planning and control of free-flying multi-arm robots in on-orbit servicing scenarios. The proposed system…
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are being increasingly deployed throughout the globe as a means to streamline monitoring, inspection, mapping, and logistic routines. When dispatched on autonomous missions, drones…
Planetary exploration increasingly relies on autonomous robotic systems capable of perceiving, interpreting, and reconstructing their surroundings in the absence of global positioning or real-time communication with Earth. Rovers operating…
This study presents a system integration approach for planning schedules, sequences, tasks, and motions for reconfigurable robots to automatically disassemble constrained structures in a non-destructive manner. Such systems must adapt their…
As the space domain becomes increasingly congested, autonomy is proposed as one approach to enable small numbers of human ground operators to manage large constellations of satellites and tackle more complex missions such as on-orbit or…
Approximate computing is a computation domain which can be used to trade time and energy with quality and therefore is useful in embedded systems. Energy is the prime resource in battery-driven embedded systems, like robots. Approximate…
This paper presents a trajectory optimization and control approach for the guidance of an orbital four-arm robot in extravehicular activities. The robot operates near the target spacecraft, enabling its arm's end-effectors to reach the…
The space environment around the Earth is becoming increasingly populated by both active spacecraft and space debris. To avoid potential collision events, significant improvements in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) activities and…
In the endeavor to make autonomous robots take actions, task planning is a major challenge that requires translating high-level task descriptions to long-horizon action sequences. Despite recent advances in language model agents, they…
One of the major challenges of a real-time autonomous robotic system for construction monitoring is to simultaneously localize, map, and navigate over the lifetime of the robot, with little or no human intervention. Past research on…
This paper investigates a swarm-based concept in which a number of nanosatellites, referred to as NanoTugs, are deployed by a mother spacecraft to capture and cooperatively stabilize and de-orbit space debris. The study focuses on the…
Intra-vehicular free-flying robots are anticipated to support various work in human spaceflight while working side-by-side with astronauts. Such example of robots includes NASA's Astrobee, DLR's CIMON, and JAXA's Int-Ball, which are…
A key factor in the economic efficiency of satellites is their availability in orbit. Replacing standardized building blocks, such as empty fuel tanks or outdated electronic modules, could greatly extend the satellites' lifetime. This,…