A Genetic Algorithm Based Navigation and Planning Methodology for Planetary Robotic Exploration

Planetary robotic explorers must plan and re-plan their actions as new mission and environmental information becomes available. Here an on-line action plan generation procedure is proposed. Action plans are scripts that include navigation, sensing, and task instructions. The plans are constructed from physically realizable actions, called action modules, that are assembled on-line to produce a successful action plan. The approach is based on a hierarchical selection process, which includes a genetic algorithm, to select a feasible mission action plan. These robots can be designed to be very capable in complex and rugged terrain. The proposed methodology attempts to aggressively utilize this capability, without risking a mission failure from the system becoming hungup or trapped. The method is demonstrated in the context of an example task and some guidelines that describe the methodology are presented.

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