Mission-directed path planning for planetary rover exploration

Abstract

Robotic rovers uniquely benefit planetary exploration- they enable regional exploration with the precision of in-situ measurements, a combination impossible from an orbiting spacecraft or fixed lander. Current rover mission planning activities utilize sophisticated software for activity planning and scheduling, but simplified path planning and execu-tion approaches tailored for localized operations to individual targets. Routes are coarsely hand-selected by human operators and executed by the rover’s local obstacle detection and avoidance software. Neither route selection nor navigation deeply considers high level mission goals, large scale terrain, time, resources or operational constraints. This strategy is insufficient for the investigation of multiple, regionally distributed targets in a single command cycle. Path planning tailored for this task must consider the impact of large scale terrain on power, speed and regional access; the effect of route timing on resource availability; the limitations of finite resource capacity and other opera-tional constraints on vehicle range and timing; and the mutual influence between traverses and upstream and down-stream stationary activities. Encapsulating this reasoning in an efficient autonomous planner would allow a rover to continue operating rationally despite significant deviations from an initial plan. This research presents mission-directed path planning that enables an autonomous, strategic reasoning capability for robotic explorers. Planning operates in a space of position, time and energy. Unlike previous hierarchical