Hybrid Robotic community strategies for lunar surface exploration
- Paper number
IAC-11,A3,2.P,19,x11240
- Author
Mr. Francisco García-de-Quirós, Emxys S.L., Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Gianmarco Radice, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Dr. Jose Antonio Carrasco, Emxys S.L., Spain
- Year
2011
- Abstract
Multi-robot cooperative systems present great advantages over single robotic rover approaches for planetary exploration missions, such as higher robustness, increased reliability and intrinsic fault-tolerant operation due to their distributed nature. Nevertheless, replacing a traditional exploration rover with a community of cooperative tiny robots is not straightforward: smaller platforms are limited in their payload capabilities, which prevents the deployment of complex (and often bulky) instruments for scientific research. Current requirements for planetary or lunar exploration demand highly advanced instruments in order to perform detailed analysis of atmosphere composition, soil chemical and mechanical characteristics, geological structures etc. These instruments often hinge on complex components combining electronics, precision mechanics, optics, etc. and require large mass, volume and power budgets which are unsuitable for very small platforms. However, the paradigm of distributed robotic systems comprising many small robots could become a valuable asset when it is intended to assist a traditional exploration rover in the fulfilment of its mission. Within this paper, the strengths and weaknesses of micro-robots communities will be identified considering a specific case of application, which in this case involves a Moon exploration mission. Different multi-robot cooperation architectures based on multi-layered communication schemes – combining peer-to-peer with broadcast and virtual channels communications - will be considered. To address the main rover-robotic community interaction, different approaches including direct and indirect interactions will be investigated with a special focus on direct adaptive cooperation between both systems. Following this, a micro-rover hardware architecture will be specifically proposed to fulfil size, power, computational capacity and autonomy needs considering the resulting requirements from system-level considerations. Finally, conclusions about the functionality and performance of the proposed exploration strategy will be discussed and critically evaluated.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)