Teams of mobile robots will play a crucial role in future missions to explore the surfaces of extraterrestrial bodies. Setting up infrastructure and taking scientific samples are expensive tasks when operating in distant, challenging, and unknown environments. In contrast to current single-robot space missions, future heterogeneous robotic teams will increase efficiency via enhanced autonomy and parallelization, improve robustness via functional redundancy, as well as benefit from complementary capabilities of the individual robots. In this article, we present our heterogeneous robotic team, consisting of flying and driving robots that we plan to deploy on scientific sampling demonstration missions at a Moon-analogue site on Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy in 2021 as part of the ARCHES project. We describe the robots' individual capabilities and their roles in two mission scenarios. We then present components and experiments on important tasks therein: automated task planning, high-level mission control, spectral rock analysis, radio-based localization, collaborative multi-robot 6D SLAM in Moon-analogue and Marslike scenarios, and demonstrations of autonomous sample return.

Abstract. As intended by its name, Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are considered as an ultimate solution to deal with insecure storage, hardware counterfeiting, and many other security problems. However, many different successful attacks have already revealed vulnerabilities of certain digital intrinsic PUFs. Although settling-state-based PUFs, such as SRAM PUFs, can be physically cloned by semi-invasive and fully-invasive attacks, successful attacks on timing-based PUFs were so far limited to modeling attacks. Such modeling requires a large subset of challenge-response-pairs (CRP) to successfully model the targeted PUF. In order to provide a final security answer, this paper proves that all arbiter-based (i.e. controlled and XOR-enhanced) PUFs can be completely and linearly characterized by means of photonic emission analysis. Our experimental setup is capable of measuring every PUF-internal delay with a resolution of 6 picoseconds. Due to this resolution we indeed require only the theoretical minimum number of linear independent equations (i.e. physical measurements) to directly solve the underlying inhomogeneous linear system. Moreover, we neither require to know the actual PUF challenges nor the corresponding PUF responses for our physical delay extraction. On top of that devastating result, we are also able to further simplify our setup for easier physical measurement handling. We present our practical results for a real arbiter PUF implementation on a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) from Altera manufactured in a 180 nanometer process.

Mineralogy is the key to understanding the origin of Phobos and its position in the evolution of the Solar System. In situ Raman spectroscopy on Phobos is an important tool to achieve the scientific objectives of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, and maximize the scientific merit of the sample return by characterizing the mineral composition and heterogeneity of the surface of Phobos. Conducting in situ Raman spectroscopy in the harsh environment of Phobos requires a very sensitive, compact, lightweight, and robust instrument that can be carried by the compact MMX rover. In this context, the Raman spectrometer for MMX (i.e., RAX) is currently under development via international collaboration between teams from Japan, Germany, and Spain. To demonstrate the capability of a compact Raman system such as RAX, we built an instrument that reproduces the optical performance of the flight model using commercial off-the-shelf parts. Using this performance model, we measured mineral samples relevant to Phobos and Mars, such as anhydrous silicates, carbonates, and hydrous minerals. Our measurements indicate that such minerals can be accurately identified using a RAX-like Raman spectrometer. We demonstrated a spectral resolution of approximately 10 cm−1, high enough to resolve the strongest olivine Raman bands at ~ 820 and ~ 850 cm−1, with highly sensitive Raman peak measurements (e.g., signal-to-noise ratios up to 100). These results strongly suggest that the RAX instrument will be capable of determining the minerals expected on the surface of Phobos, adding valuable information to address the question of the moon’s origin, heterogeneity, and circum-Mars material transport. Graphical Abstract

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We present an optical write/read system for high density optical data storage in 3-D. The microholographic approach relies on submicron-sized reflection gratings that encode the digital data. As in conventional optical data storage, the physical limitations are imposed by both the diffraction of light and resolution of the recording material. We demonstrate resolution-limited volume recording in photopolymer materials sensitive in the green and violet spectral range. The volume occupied by a micrograting scales down by the transition in the write/read wavelength. Readout yields a micrograting width of 306 nm at 532 nm and 197 nm at 405 nm. To our knowledge these are the smallest volume holograms ever recorded. The recordings demonstrate the potential of the technique for volumetric optical structuring, data storage and encryption.