Multi-Sensor Terrain Estimation for Planetary Rovers

Future planetary exploration missions will require rovers to perform difficult tasks in rough terrain, with limited human supervision. Knowledge of terrain physical characteristics would allow a rover to adapt its control and planning strategies to maximize its effectiveness. This paper describes recent and current work at MIT in the area of terrain estimation and sensing. A method for on-line terrain parameter estimation is presented. A complementary method for terrain traversability estimation is also presented. Sensor issues related to terrain estimation are discussed, and a vision-based method for measuring wheel sinkage is described. It is shown that these methods can lead to accurate and efficient understanding of a rover’s physical surroundings.

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