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Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute

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Abstract

This paper summarizes initial work on a planetary rover planning domain where long-distance traverse, large-scale terrain, changing line-of-sight geometry, finite resources and time strongly affect the strategy for achieving mission objectives. In this domain, because path planning, activity scheduling and resource usage are closely coupled, they must be considered simultaneously. We introduce a preliminary automated planner that combines planetary and rover modeling with a novel search algorithm to produce coarse navigational and activity plans for long-distance rover traverses. Results from simulation illustrate the utility of the approach, and pave the way for field experiments in planetary analog terrain. Finally, we present our plans for future research and development in the domain.

Keywords

path planning, mission planning, dynamic planning, planetary surface rovers, heuristic search

Notes

Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Grant ID: NAG9-1256

Associated Center(s) / Consortia: Space Robotics Initiative and Field Robotics Center

Associated Project(s): Sun Synchronous Navigation and Lunar Ice Discovery Initiative

Number of pages: 8

Text Reference

Paul Tompkins, Anthony (Tony) Stentz, and William (Red) L. Whittaker, "Automated Surface Mission Planning Considering Terrain, Shadows, Resources and Time," Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (i-SAIRAS '01), Montreal, Canada., June, 2001.

BibTeX Reference

@inproceedings{Tompkins_2001_3736,
   author = "Paul Tompkins and Anthony (Tony) Stentz and William (Red) L. Whittaker",
   title = "Automated Surface Mission Planning Considering Terrain, Shadows, Resources and Time",
   booktitle = "Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (i-SAIRAS '01), Montreal, Canada.",
   month = "June",
   year = "2001",
}

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