Ames Stereo Pipeline

Overview presentation of the Ames Stereo Pipeline, which creates Digital Elevation Models from stereo images

Groundwater salinisation on atoll islands after storm-surge flooding: Modelling the influence of central topographic depressions

© 2015 CIWEM. Fresh groundwater lenses (FGLs) are of utmost importance for human survival on small and isolated atolls. This article examines saline damage to atoll FGLs from wave washover caused by storm surge and studies the particular influence of central topographic depressions (CTDs). We model storm surge over atoll islets of contrasting widths (400 and 800m), both with and without CTDs of various sizes. Three key findings emerge. First, under equilibrium undisturbed conditions, the CTD slightly reduces the size of the FGL compared to atoll islets without this feature. Second, during marine flooding, prior saturated conditions at the base of a CTD impede seawater infiltration into the substrate, thereby limiting saline damage in that location. Third and most crucial, however, the amount of salt accumulated within the CTD is significant, ranging from 2 to 10 times higher than the net subsurface infiltration during the period of the storm inundation

PHALANX: Expendable Projectile Sensor Networks for Planetary Exploration

Technologies enabling long-term, wide-ranging measurement in hard-to-reach areas are a critical need for planetary science inquiry. Phenomena of interest include flows or variations in volatiles, gas composition or concentration, particulate density, or even simply temperature. Improved measurement of these processes enables understanding of exotic geologies and distributions or correlating indicators of trapped water or biological activity. However, such data is often needed in unsafe areas such as caves, lava tubes, or steep ravines not easily reached by current spacecraft and planetary robots. To address this capability gap, we have developed miniaturized, expendable sensors which can be ballistically lobbed from a robotic rover or static lander - or even dropped during a flyover. These projectiles can perform sensing during flight and after anchoring to terrain features. By augmenting exploration systems with these sensors, we can extend situational awareness, perform long-duration monitoring, and reduce utilization of primary mobility resources, all of which are crucial in surface missions. We call the integrated payload that includes a cold gas launcher, smart projectiles, planning software, network discovery, and science sensing: PHALANX. In this paper, we introduce the mission architecture for PHALANX and describe an exploration concept that pairs projectile sensors with a rover mothership. Science use cases explored include reconnaissance using ballistic cameras, volatiles detection, and building timelapse maps of temperature and illumination conditions. Strategies to autonomously coordinate constellations of deployed sensors to self-discover and localize with peer ranging (i.e. a local GPS) are summarized, thus providing communications infrastructure beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) of the rover. Capabilities were demonstrated through both simulation and physical testing with a terrestrial prototype. The approach to developing a terrestrial prototype is discussed, including design of the launching mechanism, projectile optimization, micro-electronics fabrication, and sensor selection. Results from early testing and characterization of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components are reported. Nodes were subjected to successful burn-in tests over 48 hours at full logging duty cycle. Integrated field tests were conducted in the Roverscape, a half-acre planetary analog environment at NASA Ames, where we tested up to 10 sensor nodes simultaneously coordinating with an exploration rover. Ranging accuracy has been demonstrated to be within +/-10cm over 20m using commodity radios when compared to high-resolution laser scanner ground truthing. Evolution of the design, including progressive miniaturization of the electronics and iterated modifications of the enclosure housing for streamlining and optimized radio performance are described. Finally, lessons learned to date, gaps toward eventual flight mission implementation, and continuing future development plans are discussed

ROS in Space: Thoughts on Developing and Deploying ROS for Space Robotics

Presentation describes some of the issues and consideration for software that supports space robot research and development

Human-Robot Teaming: From Space Robotics to Self-Driving Cars

In this talk, I describe how NASA Ames has been developing and testing robots for space exploration. In our research, we have focused on studying how human-robot teams can increase the performance, reduce the cost, and increase the success of space missions. A key tenet of our work is that humans and robots should support one another in order to compensate for limitations of manual control and autonomy. This principle has broad applicability beyond space exploration. Thus, I will conclude by discussing how we have worked with Nissan to apply our methods to self-driving cars, enabling humans to support autonomous vehicles operating in unpredictable and difficult situations

Astrobee: A Free-Flying Robot for the International Space Station

This presentation provides an overview of the Astrobee free-flying robot, which NASA Ames is currently developing for intravehicular activity (IVA) use inside the International Space Station

NASA Autonomous Systems

This presentation provides an overview of autonomous systems at NASA, including definitions, description of the Autonomous Systems SCLT (Systems Capability Leadership Team), and a taxonomy of autonomous systems