Intelligent Systems for Construction and Long Range Exploration on Planetary Surfaces
James Sacra Albus · 2005
For efficient and effective operations on Lunar and/or Martian surfaces, it will be necessary to develop robots with the ability to successfully perform extended missions of exploration and complex tasks of construction without imposing a large workload on astronauts or requiring high bandwidth, rapid turn-around communications with a ground station. For long-range exploration covering distances of hundreds of kilometers while performing experiments and collecting scientific data along the way, robot vehicle speeds of 2 to 5 meters per second will be required. For construction of habitat and base facilities on lunar or planetary surfaces, ultra-light machines with the capability to lift and position large heavy structures and to manipulate parts and tools will be required. To control such machines in performing complex tasks of exploration or construction, a software architecture is required that can integrate sensing, perception, world modeling, planning, and control into a cognitive system that can understand its situation and behave appropriately under a wide variety of complex situations. I.