First Results from the Multi-Robot, Multi-Partner, Multi-Mission, Planetary Exploration Analogue Campaign on Mt. Etna in Summer 2021

Paper number

IAC-21,A3,2A,3,x64452

Author

Dr. Armin Wedler, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Marcus Müller, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Martin Schuster, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Sebastian Brunner, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Peter Lehner, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mrs. Hannah Lehner, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Dömel Andreas, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Mallikarjuna Vayugundla, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Mr. Florian Steidle, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Ryo Sakagami, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Lukas Meyer, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. Michal Smisek, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Wolfgang Stürzl, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Ms. Nicole Schmitz, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Bernhard Vodermayer, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Andre Fonseca Prince, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Emanuel Staudinger, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Rainer Krenn, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Enrico Dietz, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin

Coauthor

Mr. Christian Braun, Germany, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Coauthor

Mr. Bernhard Rebele, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Riccardo Giubilato, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Josef Reill, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Maximilian Durner, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Moritz Fischer-Gundlach, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Jongseok Lee, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Alejandro Fontan Villacampa, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Mr. Ingo von Bargen, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Susanne Schroeder, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. Sven Frohmann, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin

Coauthor

Dr. Rudolph Triebel, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Mrs. Esther Bischoff, Germany, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Coauthor

Mr. Kjetil Wormnes, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)

Coauthor

Dr. Aaron Pereira, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. William Carey, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA-ESTEC)

Coauthor

Prof.Dr. Angelo Pio Rossi, Germany, Jacobs University Bremen

Coauthor

Mr. Thorsten Graber, Germany, Solenix GmbH

Coauthor

Dr. Thomas Krueger, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)

Coauthor

Dr. Peter Kyr, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Anko Börner, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mrs. Kristin Bussmann, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Gerhard Paar, Austria, Joanneum Research

Coauthor

Mr. Arnold Bauer, Austria, Joanneum Research

Coauthor

Dr. Stefan Völk, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Mr. Andreas Kimpe, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Prof. Heike Rauer, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Institute for Planetary Research

Coauthor

Prof. Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin

Coauthor

Dr. Johann Bals, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Coauthor

Prof. Sören Hohmann, Germany, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Coauthor

Prof. Bernard Foing, The Netherlands, ILEWG "EuroMoonMars"

Coauthor

Prof. Alin Olimpiu Albu-Schäffer, Germany, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Year

2021

Abstract

Teams of mobile robotic assets will play important roles in future planetary exploration missions. Plans for upcoming missions for lunar exploration and to other extraterrestrial bodies consider the extensive use of robots to fulfil their scientific and technical goals. Human-robot cooperation will be a key aspect, not only with regard to humans cooperating with robots on surface missions, but also regarding the operation of intelligent robots during different tasks and applications to achieve the mission goals in a safe and efficient manner.

The ARCHES (Autonomous Robotic Networks to Help Modern Societies) project focuses on the development ,validation and simulation of robotic key technologies to achieve autonomy with a high degree of local perception and task execution capabilities. Besides performing fundamental research, it highlights the advantages of cooperative aspects of heterogeneous robotic teams.

The ARCHES partners cooperate with the ESA ANALOG-1 mission team in order to internationally widen the scope of ARCHES: Both field campaigns will be performed in partnership between the June 14th and July 10th 2021 on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy). The analogue mission consists of three parts, focusing scientifically on geological research and radio astronomy, which are relevant scenarios for future exploration activities.

In the first two scenarios, technical and operational aspects of in-situ geological analysis and sample return will be investigated. The first scenario focuses on a cooperative heterogeneous team of two wheeled rovers (LRU1 and LRU2) and a flying drone (ARDEA), which will fully autonomously explore sites of interest and perform scientific-triggered remote spectral imagery, LIBS spectroscopy as well as sample selection, analyses, and collection tasks.

In the second scenario, another robotic asset, the Interact rover, will survey sites via supervisory control from a control room at ESOC (European Space Operations Centre)  in Darmstadt, Germany. The focus is on interactions of a trained astronaut with operations and science teams in a control room on Earth, while teleoperating a highly dexterous rover with a robotic arm. Shared autonomy with visual and haptic feedback is used to enhance the astronaut’s capabilities when operating the rover. Furthermore, a second scout rover will provide communication links required for haptic feedback of the Interact rover during teleoperation.

In the third scenario, the installation and maintenance of a low-frequency radio antenna array will be demonstrated with the LRU rovers and ARDEA drone. The array consists of four antenna elements and includes a novel technique for precise positioning based on radio communications.

Abstract document

IAC-21,A3,2A,3,x64452.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-21,A3,2A,3,x64452.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.