Toward a mobile autonomous robotic system for Mars exploration

Abstract The paper deals with the results obtained up to now in the design and realization of mobile platforms, wheeled and legged ones, for autonomous deployment in unknown and hostile environments: a work developed in the framework of a project supported by the Italian Space Agency. The paper is focused on the description of the hierarchical architecture adopted for the planning, the supervision and the control of their mobility. Experimental results validate the solutions proposed, evidencing the capabilities of the platforms to explore environments in presence of irregular ground shape and obstacles of different dimensions.

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