MMOPS: Assessing the Impact of On-Board Autonomy for Deep Space Robotic Missions

Woods, Mark; Baldwin, L.; Wilson, Graeme N.; Hall, Stewart; Aylett, Ruth; Long, Derek; Vitulli, Raffaele; Pidgeon, Alastair

doi:10.2514/6.2006-5977

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…No particular innovation is introduced with respect to standard motion planning such as the one analyzed in Refs. [7,67]. However, to prove the feasibility of the design, the focus should shift toward assessing the possible hopping trajectories and the system's control capabilities to follow them.…”

Section: −9mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper

Rimani

Bucchioni²,

Ryals³

et al. 2023

Aerospace

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The lunar lava tubes are envisioned as possible hosting structures for a human base in the Moon’s equatorial regions, providing shelter from radiations, micrometeoroids, and temperature excursion. A first robotic mission is set to scout the habitability of these underground architectures in the near future. The communication inside these underground tunnels is heavily constrained; hence, the scouting system should rely on a high degree of autonomy. At the same time, the exploration system may encounter different types of terrain, requiring an adaptable mobility subsystem able to travel fast on basaltic terrain while avoiding considerable obstacles. This paper presents a cave explorer’s mission study and preliminary sizing targeting the lunar lava tubes. The study proposes using a hybrid mobility system with wheels and thrusters to navigate smoothly inside the lava tubes. The peculiar mobility system of the cave explorer requires an accurate study of the adaptability of its control capabilities with the change of mass for a given set of sensors and actuators. The combination of conceptual design techniques and control assessment gives the engineer a clear indication of the feasible design box for the studied system during the initial formulation phases of a mission. This first part of the study focuses on framing the stakeholders’ needs and identifying the required capabilities of the cave explorer. Furthermore, the study focuses on assessing a design box in terms of mass and power consumption for the cave explorer. Following different mission-level assessments, a more detailed design of the cave explorer is discussed, providing an initial design in terms of mass and power consumption. Finally, the objective shifts toward studying the performances of the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms varying the mass of the cave explorer. The GNC significantly impacts the design box of the surface planetary system. Hence, investigating its limitations can indicate the feasibility of mass growth to accommodate, for example, more payload.

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Section: −9mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper

Rimani

Bucchioni²,

Ryals³

et al. 2023

Aerospace

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show abstract

“…In another ESA-sponsored activity, artificial intelligence (AI) planning and scheduling-based tactical replanning software called time line validation and control (TVCR) has been developed to support goalbased arbitration and time line replanning to support opportunistic science (Woods et al, 2006). Recent work at Aberystwyth University (AU) provided both the test environment or "Mars Yard" and a half-scale model of the ExoMars chassis E concept with a simple assembly representing a robotic arm.…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the autonomous scientist's work, only the replanning functionality of TVCR is of significant interest: the other functions, including monitoring the execution of the time line, remain active but are not central to the focus of the research (Woods et al, 2006). To perform its replanning, TVCR reasons with a model of the activities that are available in the domain.…”

Section: Replanning Agentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous science for an ExoMars Rover–like mission

Woods

Shaw

Barnes

et al. 2009

Journal of Field Robotics

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Special Issue: Special Issue on Space Robotics, Part II Mark Woods, Andy Shaw, Dave Barnes, Dave Price, Derek Long, Derek Pullan, Autonomous science for an ExoMars Rover-like mission, Journal of Field Robotics, Volume 26 Issue 4 (April 2009), pp 358-390. Sponsorship: STFCIn common with other Mars exploration missions, human supervision of Europe's ExoMars Rover will be mostly indirect via orbital relay spacecraft and thus far from immediate. The gap between issuing commands and witnessing the results of the consequent rover actions will typically be on the order of several hours or even sols. In addition, it will not be possible to observe the external environment at the time of action execution. This lengthens the time required to carry out scientific exploration and limits the mission's ability to respond quickly to favorable science events. To increase potential science return for such missions, it will be necessary to deploy autonomous systems that include science target selection and active data acquisition. In this work, we have developed and integrated technologies that we explored in previous studies and used the resulting test bed to demonstrate an autonomous, opportunistic science concept on a representative robotic platform. In addition to progressing the system design approach and individual autonomy components, we have introduced a methodology for autonomous science assessment based on terrestrial field science practice.Peer reviewe

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Kunz¹,

Murphy²,

Singh³

et al. 2009

Journal of Field Robotics

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Much of what we know about our solar system and the universe beyond it we owe to spacecraft like Pioneer and Voyager; orbiters including Hubble, Galileo, and Cassini; robotic landers like Surveyor, Viking, and Huygens; and, of course, the planetary rovers Lunakhod, Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity. Today we recognize these devices as robots with their sensors for guidance and observation, their onboard control avionics, their actuation for locomotion, tracking, and operation, and their interaction, teleoperated and autonomous, with humans. Robotic explorers have

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MMOPS: Assessing the Impact of On-Board Autonomy for Deep Space Robotic Missions

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper

Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper

Autonomous science for an ExoMars Rover–like mission

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