Evaluation of a Mobile Platform for Proof-of-concept Autonomous Site Selection and Preparation

• Main Author: Gammell, Jonathan
• Other Authors: D'Eleuterio, Gabriele M. T.
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Autonomous Mobile Robotics; Multiagent Robotics; In-Situ Resource Utilization; Autonomous Site Selection and Preparation; Lunar Terraforming; 0538; 0771
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/25591

A mobile robotic platform for Autonomous Site Selection and Preparation (ASSP) was developed for an analogue deployment to Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i. A team of rovers performed an autonomous Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey and constructed a level landing pad. They used interchangeable payloads that allowed the GPR and blade to be easily exchanged. Autonomy was accomplished by integrating the individual hardware devices with software based on the ArgoSoft framework previously developed at UTIAS. The rovers were controlled by an on-board netbook. The successes and failures of the devices and software modules are evaluated within. Recommendations are presented to address problems discovered during the deployment and to guide future research on the platform.