Autonomous Rock Outcrop Segmentation as a Tool for Science and Exploration Tasks in Surface Operations

As planetary exploration missions become increasingly complex and capable, the motivation grows for improved autonomous science. New capabilities for onboard science data analysis may relieve radio-link data limits and provide greater throughput of scientific information. For surface missions, geology remains an essential focus, and the investigation of in-place, exposed geological materials provides the greatest scientific insight and context for the formation and history of geological environments. The present work develops techniques for autonomous segmentation of images of rock outcrops. Recognition of the relationships between different geological units is the first step in mapping and interpreting a geological setting, and is important even in the absence of compositional information. The goal is to allow a computer to process an image of a rock outcrop and produce a map of visually-distinguishable geological units. Several scenarios are described in which this tool could enable more efficient and effective science operations on planetary surfaces, by guiding instrument use, target selection, and other decisions in the exploration process.

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