Publication
Entern -- Environment Modelling and Navigation for Robotic Space-Exploration
Jakob Schwendner; Javier Hidalgo Carrió; Raúl Domínguez; Steffen Planthaber; Yong-Ho Yoo; Behnam Asadi; Janosch Machowinski; Christian Rauch; Frank Kirchner
In: Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies in Robotics and Automation (ASTRA). ESA/Estec Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies in Robotics and Automation (ASTRA), 13th, May 11-13, Noordwijk, Netherlands, inproceedings ASTRA, 2015.
Abstract
Lunar and planetary craters and caves are of special
scientific interest and have the potential to provide shelter
for human habitats. Robots could provide the means to
explore these difficult environments. A number of challenges
are involved with the exploration: The robots have
to be highly mobile to negotiate the difficult terrain, and
need to perform most of their task autonomously, especially
in caves lacking radio communication. This paper
gives an overview of the Entern project and the associated
goals and challenges. This includes the research of technologies
for operations, environment representation and
navigation. Special emphasis is put into the development
of on-board simulation, to improve the reliability and the
operational envelope of the robots. Further, a description
of evaluation scenarios in relevant earth analogue environments
is provided.