T CLARAty : A Collaborative Software for Advancing Robotic Technologies

— Future planetary science exploration will demand more capable and intelligent robots. Software plays a key role as it embodies the intelligence of a machine. To advance robotic technologies it becomes necessary to effectively share and reuse robotic technology implementations across projects. This calls out for a common framework for integrating robotic software to address its numerous challenges. This paper presents the CLARAty robotic software framework that was primarily developed by the Mars Technology Program for integrating advanced robotic technologies from its competed programs and their deployment on NASA's research rover fleet. We will present the multi-institutional development process and highlight some of the principles adopted in developing CLARAty. We will summarize both technical and non-technical challenges and close with an example of the successful sharing of robotic software infrastructure and component technologies among institutions.

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