Related papers: MARTIAN: A Rendering Framework for Aerial Mars Ima…
Space exploration has witnessed a steady increase since the 1960s, with Mars playing a significant role in our quest for further knowledge. As the ambition to colonize Mars becomes a reality through the collaboration of private companies…
Planetary surfaces are typically analyzed using high-level semantic concepts in natural language, yet vast orbital image archives remain organized at the pixel level. This mismatch limits scalable, open-ended exploration of planetary…
We present an open-source system for Micro-Aerial Vehicle autonomous navigation from vision-based sensing. Our system focuses on dense mapping, safe local planning, and global trajectory generation, especially when using narrow field of…
Synthetic image generation is one of the crucial input for planetary missions. It enables researchers and engineers to visualize planned planetary missions, test imaging systems and plan exploration activities in a virtual environment…
The increasing interest in spacecraft autonomy and the complex tasks to be accomplished by the spacecraft raise the need for a trustworthy approach to perform Verification & Validation of Guidance, Navigation, and Control algorithms. In the…
An event-based camera outputs an event whenever a change in scene brightness of a preset magnitude is detected at a particular pixel location in the sensor plane. The resulting sparse and asynchronous output coupled with the high dynamic…
Vision Based Navigation consists in utilizing cameras as precision sensors for GNC after extracting information from images. To enable the adoption of machine learning for space applications, one of obstacles is the demonstration that…
Mars exploration requires precise and reliable terrain models to ensure safe rover navigation across its unpredictable and often hazardous landscapes. Stereoscopic vision serves a critical role in the rover's perception, allowing scene…
The scarcity of data acquired under actual space operational conditions poses a significant challenge for developing learning-based visual navigation algorithms crucial for autonomous spacecraft navigation. This data shortage is primarily…
In this paper we present a simulation framework for the evaluation of the navigation and localization metrological performances of a robotic platform. The simulator, based on ROS (Robot Operating System) Gazebo, is targeted to a…
One of the main objectives of the Mars Exploration Program is to search for evidence of past or current life on the planet. To achieve this, Mars exploration has been focusing on regions that may have liquid or frozen water. A set of…
Digital terrain maps (DTMs) are an important part of planetary exploration, enabling operations such as terrain relative navigation during entry, descent, and landing for spacecraft and aiding in navigation on the ground. As robotic…
In the future, extraterrestrial expeditions will not only be conducted by rovers but also by flying robots. The technical demonstration drone Ingenuity, that just landed on Mars, will mark the beginning of a new era of exploration…
Spacecraft entering Mars require precise navigation algorithms capable of accurately estimating the vehicle's position and velocity in dynamic and uncertain atmospheric environments. Discrepancies between the true Martian atmospheric…
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…
Utilizing the complementary strengths of wavelength-specific range or depth sensors is crucial for robust computer-assisted tasks such as autonomous driving. Despite this, there is still little research done at the intersection of optical…
Autonomous vehicles such as the Mars rovers currently lead the vanguard of surface exploration on extraterrestrial planets and moons. In order to accelerate the pace of exploration and science objectives, it is critical to plan safe and…
A potential Mars Sample Return (MSR) architecture is being jointly studied by NASA and ESA. As currently envisioned, the MSR campaign consists of a series of 3 missions: sample cache, fetch and return to Earth. In this paper, we focus on…
Automatic terrain recognition in Mars rover images is an important problem not just for navigation, but for scientists interested in studying rock types, and by extension, conditions of the ancient Martian paleoclimate and habitability.…
Lossy image compression is essential for Mars exploration missions, due to the limited bandwidth between Earth and Mars. However, the compression may introduce visual artifacts that complicate the geological analysis of the Martian surface.…