AN INTEGRATED CONSTRAINT-BASED , POWER-AWARE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS ROVER MISSION OPERATIONS

This paper aims at describing an integrated power-aware, model-based autonomous control architecture for planetary rover-based mission operations synthesized in the context of a Ph.D. program on the topic “Autonomy for Interplanetary missions” funded and supported by ESA. The proposed controller implements a single SenseAct-Plan (SPA) closed-execution loop to safely command the robot activities considered in the context of a specific key mission scenario. Both highly decisionmaking capabilities and a flexible execution process are the two key features on which the control system is grounded. Furthermore, target execution capabilities, specially those that allow to flexibly keeping pace with temporal and power-related contingencies that might threaten the whole schedule execution attainment, are demonstrated through the integration with the ESA’s 3DROV planetary rover system simulator.