The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, launched on 14 May 2009, is the third-generation space experiment in the field of cosmic microwave background (CMB) research. It will image the anisotropies of the CMB over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity ( ΔT T ∼ 2 × 10 −6 ) and angular resolution (∼5 arcmin). Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to many fundamental cosmological problems and will test current theories of the early evolution of the Universe and the origin of structure. It will also address a wide range of areas of astrophysical research related to the Milky Way as well as external galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The ability of Planck to measure polarization across a wide frequency range (30−350 GHz), with high precision and accuracy, and over the whole sky, will provide unique insight, not only into specific cosmological questions, but also into the properties of the interstellar medium. This paper is part of a series which describes the technical capabilities of the Planck scientific payload. It is based on the knowledge gathered during the on-ground calibration campaigns of the major subsystems, principally its telescope and its two scientific instruments, and of tests at fully integrated satellite level. It represents the best estimate before launch of the technical performance that the satellite and its payload will achieve in flight. In this paper, we summarise the main elements of the payload performance, which is described in detail in the accompanying papers. In addition, we describe the satellite performance elements which are most relevant for science, and provide an overview of the plans for scientific operations and data analysis.

This article presents the hardware design and software algorithms of RoboSimian, a statically stable quadrupedal robot capable of both dexterous manipulation and versatile mobility in difficult terrain. The robot has generalized limbs and hands capable of mobility and manipulation, along with almost fully hemispherical 3D sensing with passive stereo cameras. The system is semi-autonomous, enabling low-bandwidth, high latency control operated from a standard laptop. Because limbs are used for mobility and manipulation, a single unified mobile manipulation planner is used to generate autonomous behaviors, including walking, sitting, climbing, grasping, and manipulating. The remote operator interface is optimized to designate, parameterize, sequence, and preview behaviors, which are then executed by the robot. RoboSimian placed fifth in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials, demonstrating its ability to perform disaster recovery tasks in degraded human environments.

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This paper discusses hardware and software improvements to the RoboSimian system leading up to and during the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals. Team RoboSimian achieved a 5th place finish by achieving 7 points in 47:59 min. We present an architecture that was structured to be adaptable at the lowest level and repeatable at the highest level. The low‐level adaptability was achieved by leveraging tactile measurements from force torque sensors in the wrist coupled with whole‐body motion primitives. We use the term “behaviors” to conceptualize this low‐level adaptability. Each behavior is a contact‐triggered state machine that enables execution of short‐order manipulation and mobility tasks autonomously. At a high level, we focused on a teach‐and‐repeat style of development by storing executed behaviors and navigation poses in an object/task frame for recall later. This enabled us to perform tasks with high repeatability on competition day while being robust to task differences from practice to execution.

Abstract-The use of the cognitive capabilties of humans to help guide the autonomy of robotics platforms in what is typically called "supervised-autonomy" is becoming more commonplace in robotics research. The work discussed in this paper presents an approach to a human-in-the-loop mode of robot operation that integrates high level human cognition and commanding with the intelligence and processing power of autonomous systems. Our framework for a "Supervised Remote Robot with Guided Autonomy and Teleoperation" (SURRO-GATE) is demonstrated on a robotic platform consisting of a pan-tilt perception head, two 7-DOF arms connected by a single 7-DOF torso, mounted on a tracked-wheel base. We present an architecture that allows high-level supervisory commands and intents to be specified by a user that are then interpreted by the robotic system to perform whole body manipulation tasks autonomously. We use a concept of "behaviors" to chain together sequences of "actions" for the robot to perform which is then executed real time.