Solar navigational planning for robotic explorers

Shillcutt, Kimberly; Whittaker, William

doi:10.1109/robot.2001.932809

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Sun-synchronous exploration is an energy-cognizant strategy for planetary exploration [21] [22] that utilizes knowledge of terrain, time, and rover characteristics to maximize the solar energy gathered while performing a mission. This concept could enable exploration missions by solar-powered rovers that could last months or years.…”

Section: Applications Of Stereo Matchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stereo matching: performance study of two global algorithms

et al. 2011

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Techniques such as clinometry, stereoscopy, interferometry, and polarimetry are used for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generation from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. The choice of technique depends on the SAR configuration, the means used for image acquisition, and the relief type. The most popular techniques are interferometry for regions of high coherence and stereoscopy for regions such as steep forested mountain slopes. Stereo matching, which is finds the disparity map or correspondence points between two images acquired from different sensor positions, is a core process in stereoscopy. Additionally, automatic stereo processing, which involves stereo matching, is an important process in other applications including vision-based obstacle avoidance for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), extraction of weak targets in clutter, and automatic target detection. Due to its high computational complexity, stereo matching has traditionally been, and continues to be, one of the most heavily investigated topics in computer vision. A stereo matching algorithm performs a subset of the following four steps: cost computation, cost (support) aggregation, disparity computation/optimization, and disparity refinement. Based on the method used for cost computation, the algorithms are classified into feature-, phase-, and area-based algorithms; and they are classified as local or global based on how they perform disparity computation/optimization. We present a comparative performance study of two pairs, i.e., four versions, of global stereo matching codes. Each pair uses a different minimization technique: a simulated annealing or graph cut algorithm. And, the codes of a pair differ in terms of the employed global cost function: absolute difference (AD) or a variation of normalized cross correlation (NCC). The performance comparison is in terms of execution time, the global minimum cost achieved, power and energy consumption, and the quality of generated output. The results of this preliminary study provide insights into the suitability and relative merits of these algorithms and cost functions for execution on field-deployable and on-board computer systems with size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. The results show that for 12 out of 14 instances the graph cut codes, compared to their simulated annealing counterparts provided a 35-85% improvement in energy consumption and, therefore, are promising candidates for use in fielddeployable and on-board systems.

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Section: Applications Of Stereo Matchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stereo matching: performance study of two global algorithms

et al. 2011

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“…Past work provides guidance in this direction. For example, maximization of incident solar energy on rover solar arrays has been considered as a determinant for selection among several survey trajectory types [16]. Another study applied an energy efficiency metric, defined as a ratio of area covered to energy consumed, to evaluate parallel line, circular spiral, and square spiral trajectories [15].…”

Section: Enriching Metrics For Surveys On Planetary Surfacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile robotic surveying performance for planetary surface site characterization

Tunstel

2008

Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems

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Robotic systems will perform mobile surveys for scientific and engineering purposes as part of future missions on lunar and planetary surfaces. With site characterization as a task objective various system configurations and surveying techniques are possible. This chapter describes several examples of mobile surveying approaches using local and remote sensing configurations. A geometric measure of area coverage performance is applied to each and relative performance in surveying a common area is characterized by expected performance trends. Performance metrics that solely express geometric aspects of the robotic task are limited in utility as decision aids to human mission operators. As such, the importance of enriching such metrics by incorporating additional attributes germane to surveying on planetary surfaces is highlighted. Examples of enriched metrics employed by recent NASA research work on human-supervised robotic surveying are provided.

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“…Shillcut [6] analyzes how various rover terrain coverage patterns affect available solar power, and provides motivation for planning under such considerations.…”

Section: Relevant Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mission planning for the Sun-Synchronous Navigation Field Experiment

Tompkins

Stentz

Whittaker

Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292)

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This paper describes TEMPEST, a IntroductionFuture Mars rover exploration missions grow increasingly ambitious in terms of science data diversity and coverage, requiring greater rover mobility and autonomy [5]. As reach is extended further beyond the landing site, a new host of issues become pertinent to the path planning problem. Regional terrain may inhibit travel to distant science targets. Sunlight availability changes with the presence or absence of occluding hills or mountains, prompting careful planning of the timing of solar battery charging, driving, communications and science. Even the power output of candidate rover nuclear generators may not sustain continuous driving over long distances, forcing well-timed, periodic battery charging during inactive time periods. In either case, extending rover resource-cognizant autonomy might significantly improve the science data return for planetary surface missions.The Sun-Synchronous Navigation Project sought to investigate several technologies to enable long-duration, solarpowered exploration of the poles of planets and moons of the inner solar system [13]. TEMPEST (TEmporal Mission Planner for the Exploration of Shadowed Terrain) was a key development of this project: a step towards greater levels of autonomy through resource-cognizant path planning. The software produces plans whose path and timing are synchronous with planetary rotation, and hence with the sun. Though applied to the sun-synchronous navigation strategy, the mission planning framework is applicable to general resource management on planetary exploration robots.Sun-synchronous navigation is an energy-coginzant strategy for planetary exploration in polar regions [12], [13]. Sun-synchronous routes, as the name implies, are synchronized with the motion of the sun in the sky. In the summer at polar latitudes of Mercury, Earth, the Moon and Mars, the sun remains above the horizon, at low elevation angles, for months. A rover could maintain sun exposure on a vertically-mounted solar array (see Figure 1) simply by driving in a circular path and turning at a rate that matches the motion of the sun. This strategy achieves sun pointing without the mechanical complexity and mass of a motordriven array. Given proper solar array sizing, such routes guarantee a greater battery energy level at the end of the cycle than at the start. Daily recharge permits repetition, and with a sufficient path radius, enables coverage of large areas.Figure 1: The Hyperion rover, for which TEMPEST generated sun-synchronous routes. Note the vertical solar array and long polar shadow

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Solar navigational planning for robotic explorers

Abstract: Abstract:This research considers the sun '

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Stereo matching: performance study of two global algorithms

Stereo matching: performance study of two global algorithms

Mobile robotic surveying performance for planetary surface site characterization

Mission planning for the Sun-Synchronous Navigation Field Experiment

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