Autonomous Rock Tracking and Acquisition from a Mars Rover
Abstract
Future Mars exploration missions will perform two types of experiments: science instrument placement for close-up measurement, and sample acquisition for return to Earth. In this paper we describe algorithms we developed for these tasks, and demonstrate them in field experiments using a self-contained Mars Rover prototype, the Rocky 7 rover. Our algorithms perform visual servoing on an elevation map instead of image features, because the latter are subject to abrupt scale changes during the approach. This allows us to compensate for the poor odometry that results from motion on loose terrain. We demonstrate the successful grasp of a 5 cm long rock over 1 m away using 103-degree field-of-view stereo cameras, and placement of a flexible mast on a rock outcropping over 5 m away using 43 degree FOV stereo cameras.
BibTeX
@conference{Maimone-1999-14933,author = {Mark Maimone and Issa Nesnas and Hari Das},
title = {Autonomous Rock Tracking and Acquisition from a Mars Rover},
booktitle = {Proceedings of International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (iSAIRAS '99)},
year = {1999},
month = {June},
}