Expanding venue and persistence of planetary mobile robotic exploration: new technology concepts for Mars and beyond
Paul S. Schenker, Alberto Elfes, Jeffrey L. Hall, Terrance L. Huntsberger, Jack A. Jones, Brian Wilcox, Wayne Zimmerman · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2003
The domain and technology of mobile robotic space exploration are fast moving from brief visits to benign Mars surface regions to more challenging terrain and sustained exploration. Further, the overall venue and concept of space robotic exploration are expanding-“from flatland to 3D”-from the surface, to sub-surface and aerial theatres on disparate large and small planetary bodies, including Mars, Venus, Titan, Europa, and small asteroids. These new space robotic system developments are being facilitated by concurrent, synergistic advances in software and hardware technologies for robotic mobility, particularly as regard on-board system autonomy and novel thermo-mechanical design. We outline these directions of emerging mobile science mission interest and technology enablement, including illustrative work at JPL on terrain-adaptive and multi-robot cooperative rover systems, aerobotic mobility, and subsurface ice explorers.