Rigid Wheel and Grouser Designs for Off-Road Mobility

A wheel includes a circular wheel main body and at least one grouser. The at least one grouser is provided along an outer circumference of the wheel main body and has a contact surface capable of drawing a first tangent line. The first tangent line is inclined opposite to a rotational direction of the wheel main body from the center line of the wheel main body

Wheel Design and Tension Analysis for the Tethered Axel Rover on Extreme Terrain

As the Mars Exploration rovers have reaffirmed, some of the most interesting sites for scientists to explore on planetary surfaces lie in terrains that are currently inaccessible to state-of-the art rovers. We have been developing the Axel rover as a robotic platform to access steep and challenging terrain. We will summarize the recent mechanical upgrades since we introduced the tethered Axel concept last year

Tools and Algorithms for Sampling in Extreme Terrains

Extreme-terrain robots such as JPL’s Axel rover are enabling access to new and exciting science opportunities. The goal of this mini-program was to develop a compact sampling instrument for Axel. Over the summer of 2012, a small group of students designed, built, and tested prototype sampling devices. Nikola Georgiev created a versatile four-degree-of-freedom scoop, which can acquire up to 4 different samples in clean self-sealing containers. Hima Hassenruck-Gudipati studied percussive scooping, and prototyped a percussive scoop that takes advantage Axel’s independent body rotation to acquire samples. Kristen Holtz and Yifei Huang collaborated on a pneumatic sampling system, which uses a puff of air to propel loose grains into flexible tubing, and separates the grains into an interchangeable sample container. Each of these sampling systems has been demonstrated, and each proved useful for different conditions. In turn, the students gained valuable design experience and the opportunity to work alongside a number of experts in various fields

Gone with the Wind ON_Mars (GOWON): A Wind-Driven Networked System of Mobile Sensors on Mars

We propose a revolutionary way of studying the sur-face of Mars using a wind-driven network of mobile sensors- Gone with the Wind ON_Mars (GOWON). GOWON is envisioned to be a scalable, 100% self energy-generating and distributed system that allows in-situ mapping of a wide range of phenomena in a much larger portion of the surface of Mars compared to earlier missions. It could radically improve the possibility of finding rare phenomena like bio signatures through random wind-driven search. It could explore difficult terrains that were beyond the reach of previous missions, such as regions with very steep slopes, cluttered surfaces and/or sand dunes; GOWON is envisioned as an on going mission with a long life span. It could achieve any of NASA's scientific objectives on Mars in a cost-effective way, leaving a long lasting sensing and searching infrastructure on Mars. GOWON is a 2012 Step B invitee for NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC). It addresses the challenge area of the Mars Surface System Capabilities area. We believe the challenge to be near-term, i.e., 2018-2024

Tools and Algorithms for Sampling in Extreme Terrains

Extreme-terrain robots such as JPL’s Axel rover are enabling access to new and exciting science opportunities. The goal of this mini-program was to develop a compact sampling instrument for Axel. Over the summer of 2012, a small group of students designed, built, and tested prototype sampling devices. Nikola Georgiev created a versatile four-degree-of-freedom scoop, which can acquire up to 4 different samples in clean self-sealing containers. Hima Hassenruck-Gudipati studied percussive scooping, and prototyped a percussive scoop that takes advantage Axel’s independent body rotation to acquire samples. Kristen Holtz and Yifei Huang collaborated on a pneumatic sampling system, which uses a puff of air to propel loose grains into flexible tubing, and separates the grains into an interchangeable sample container. Each of these sampling systems has been demonstrated, and each proved useful for different conditions. In turn, the students gained valuable design experience and the opportunity to work alongside a number of experts in various fields

Mechanism for Deploying a Long, Thin-Film Antenna from a Rover

Observations with radio telescopes address key problems in cosmology, astrobiology, heliophysics, and planetary science including the first light in the Universe (Cosmic Dawn), magnetic fields of extrasolar planets, particle acceleration mechanisms, and the lunar ionosphere. The Moon is a unique science platform because it allows access to radio frequencies that do not penetrate the Earth's ionosphere and because its far side is shielded from intense terrestrial emissions. A radio antenna can be realized by using polyimide film as a substrate, with a conducting substance deposited on it. Such an antenna can be rolled into a small volume for transport, then deployed by unrolling, and a robotic rover offers a natural means of unrolling a polyimide film-based antenna. An antenna deployment mechanism was developed that allows a thin film to be deposited onto a ground surface, in a controlled manner, using a minimally actuated rover. The deployment mechanism consists of two rollers, one driven and one passive. The antenna film is wrapped around the driven roller. The passive roller is mounted on linear bearings that allow it to move radially with respect to the driven roller. Springs preload the passive roller against the driven roller, and prevent the tightly wrapped film from unspooling or "bird's nesting" on the driven spool. The antenna deployment mechanism is integrated on the minimally-actuated Axel rover. Axel is a two-wheeled rover platform with a trailing boom that is capable of traversing undulated terrain and overcoming obstacles of a wheel radius in height. It is operated by four motors: one that drives each wheel; a third that controls the rotation of the boom, which orients the body mounted sensors; and a fourth that controls the rover's spool to drive the antenna roller. This low-mass axle-like rover houses its control and communication avionics inside its cylindrical body. The Axel rover teleoperation software has an auto-spooling mode that allows a user to automatically deploy the thin-film antenna at a rate proportional to the wheel speed as it drives the rover along its trajectory. The software allows Axel to deposit the film onto the ground to prevent or minimize relative motion between the film and the terrain to avoid the risk of scraping and antenna with the terrain

Autonomous Small Body Mapping and Spacecraft Navigation Via Real-Time SPC-SLAM

Current methods for pose and shape estimation of small bodies, such as comets and asteroids, rely on extensive ground support and significant use of radiometric measurements using the Deep Space Network. The Stereo-Photoclinometry (SPC) technique is currently used to provide detailed topological information about a small body as well as its absolute orientation and position. While this technique has produced very accurate estimates, the core algorithm cannot be run in real-time and requires a team of scientists on the ground who must communicate with the spacecraft in order to oversee SPC operations. Autonomous onboard navigation addresses these limitations by eliminating the need for human oversight. In this paper, we present an optimization-based estimation algorithm for navigation that allows the spacecraft to autonomously approach and maneuver around an unknown small body by mapping its geometric shape, estimating its orientation, and simultaneously determining the trajectory of the center of mass of the small body. We show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm using simulated data from a previous flight mission to Comet 67P

Autonomous Rover Traverse and Precise Arm Placement on Remotely Designated Targets

This software controls a rover platform to traverse rocky terrain autonomously, plan paths, and avoid obstacles using its stereo hazard and navigation cameras. It does so while continuously tracking a target of interest selected from 10 20 m away. The rover drives and tracks the target until it reaches the vicinity of the target. The rover then positions itself to approach the target, deploys its robotic arm, and places the end effector instrument on the designated target to within 2-3-cm accuracy of the originally selected target. This software features continuous navigation in a fairly rocky field in an outdoor environment and the ability to enable the rover to avoid large rocks and traverse over smaller ones. Using point-and-click mouse commands, a scientist designates targets in the initial imagery acquired from the rover s mast cameras. The navigation software uses stereo imaging, traversability analysis, path planning, trajectory generation, and trajectory execution. It also includes visual target tracking of a designated target selected from 10 m away while continuously navigating the rocky terrain. Improvements in this design include steering while driving, which uses continuous curvature paths. There are also several improvements to the traversability analyzer, including improved data fusion of traversability maps that result from pose estimation uncertainties, dealing with boundary effects to enable tighter maneuvers, and handling a wider range of obstacles. This work advances what has been previously developed and integrated on the Mars Exploration Rovers by using algorithms that are capable of traversing more rock-dense terrains, enabling tight, thread-the-needle maneuvers. These algorithms were integrated on the newly refurbished Athena Mars research rover, and were fielded in the JPL Mars Yard. Forty-three runs were conducted with targets at distances ranging from 5 to 15 m, and a success rate of 93% was achieved for placement of the instrument within 2-3 cm of the target

Axel: A Minimalist Tethered Rover for Exploration of Extreme Planetary Terrains

Recent scientific findings suggest that some of the most interesting sites for future exploration of planetary surfaces lie in terrains that are currently inaccessible to conventional robotic rovers. To provide robust and flexible access to these terrains, we have been developing Axel, the robotic rover. Axel is a lightweight two-wheeled vehicle that can access steep terrains and negotiate relatively large obstacles because of its actively managed tether and novel wheel design. This article reviews the Axel system and focuses on those system components that affect Axel's steep terrain mobility. Experimental demonstrations of Axel on sloped and rocky terrains are presented

CLARAty Functional-Layer Software

Functional-layer software for the Coupled Layer Architecture for Robotics Autonomy (CLARAty) is being developed. [CLARAty was described in Coupled-Layer Architecture for Advanced Software for Robots (NPO-21218), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 12 (December 2002), page 48. To recapitulate: CLARAty was proposed to improve the modularity of robotic software while tightening the coupling between planning/execution and control subsystems. Whereas prior robotic software architectures have typically contained three levels, the CLARAty architecture contains two layers: a decision layer and a functional layer.] Just as an operating system provides abstraction from computational hardware, the CLARAty functional-layer software provides for abstraction for the different robotic systems. The functional-layer software establishes interrelated, object-oriented hierarchies that contain active and passive objects that represent the different levels of system abstrations and components. The functional-layer software is decomposed into a set of reusable core components and a set of extended components that adapt the reusable set to specific hardware implementations. The reusable components (a) provide behavior and interface definitions and implementations of basic functionality, (b) provide local executive capabilities, (c) manage local resources, and (d) support state and resource queries by the decision layer. Software for robotic systems can be built by use of these components