Terrain Modelling for Planetary Exploration

Rekleitis, Ioannis; Bedwani, Jean-Luc; Gemme, S.; Lamarche, Tom; Dupuis, Érick

doi:10.1109/crv.2007.63

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…An extended elevation map for full 3D mapping that can represent overhanging objects was developed by Pfaff and Burgard (). Rekleitis et al () applied a decimated irregular triangular mesh (ITM) to represent the terrain measured by LIDAR (Dupuis et al, ). Similar triangulation mapping for a lunar rover prototype can be seen in the work done by Wettergreen et al ().…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Range‐dependent Terrain Mapping and Multipath Planning using Cylindrical Coordinates for a Planetary Exploration Rover

Ishigami

Otsuki

Kubota

2013

Journal of Field Robotics

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This paper presents terrain mapping and path‐planning techniques that are key issues for autonomous mobility of a planetary exploration rover. In this work, a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor is used to obtain geometric information on the terrain. A point cloud of the terrain feature provided from the LIDAR sensor is usually converted to a digital elevation map. A sector‐shaped reference grid for the conversion process is proposed in this paper, resulting in an elevation map with cylindrical coordinates termed as C2DEM. This conversion approach achieves a range‐dependent resolution for the terrain mapping: a detailed terrain representation near the rover and a sparse representation far from the rover. The path planning utilizes a cost function composed of terrain inclination, terrain roughness, and path length indices, each of which is subject to a weighting factor. The multipath planning developed in this paper first explores possible sets of weighting factors and generates multiple candidate paths. The most feasible path is then determined by a comparative evaluation between the candidate paths. Field experiments with a rover prototype at a Lunar/Martian analog site were performed to confirm the feasibility of the proposed techniques, including the range‐dependent terrain mapping with C2DEM and the multipath‐planning method.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Range‐dependent Terrain Mapping and Multipath Planning using Cylindrical Coordinates for a Planetary Exploration Rover

Ishigami

Otsuki

Kubota

2013

Journal of Field Robotics

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“…Figure 3 shows a decimated ITM, note the large triangles at the flat areas and how the triangle density increases where there are obstacles. A more detailed discussion of the ITM terrain representation is outside the scope of this paper; please refer to [20,21] for more details.…”

Section: Operational Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

Path Planning for Planetary Exploration

Rekleitis

Bedwani²,

Dupuis

et al. 2008

2008 Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision

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In this paper we present the work done at the Canadian Space Agency on the problem of planetary exploration. One of the main goals is the over-the-horizon navigation of a mobile robot on a Mars like environment. A key component is the ability to plan a path using maps of different resolutions and also to refine/replan when more data becomes available. Our algorithms on path planning and path segmentation are presented together with results from two years of experiments in realistic conditions.

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“…Please refer to [17] for a discussion of various LIDAR modelling methods. It is worth mentioning though the recent approach which combines digital elevation maps with multiple layers [20] as it models concave structures.…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To fulfil these requirements, the ITM terrain representation was chosen [16]. Our terrain modelling approach has been presented before [17] together with an analysis of the different terrain properties encountered in the Mars emulation terrain used for our experiments. It is worth noting that each individual scan results in a 2.5D surface, however, the ITM formalism is capable of combining several scans to model 3D structures such as overhangs.…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous planetary exploration using LIDAR data

Rekleitis

Bedwani

Dupuis

2009

2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

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Abstract-In this paper we present the approach for autonomous planetary exploration developed at the Canadian Space Agency. The goal of this work is to autonomously navigate to remote locations, well beyond the sensing horizon of the rover, with minimal interaction with a human operator. We employ LIDAR range sensors due to their accuracy, long range and robustness in the harsh lighting conditions of space. Irregular Triangular Meshes (ITMs) are used for representing the environment providing an accurate yet compact spatial representation. In this paper a novel path-planning technique through the ITM is introduced, which guides the rover through flatter terrain and safely away from obstacles. Experiments performed in CSA's Mars emulation terrain that validate our approach are also presented. I. INTRODUCTIONMobile robotics has enabled scientific breakthroughs in planetary exploration [1]. Recent accomplishments have demonstrated beyond doubt the necessity and feasibility of semi-autonomous rovers for conducting scientific exploration on other planets. Both Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) "Spirit" and "Opportunity" have the ability to detect and avoid obstacles, picking a path that would take them along a safe trajectory. MER's have reached traverses of 300m/sol. On occasion, the rovers have had to travel to locations that were at the fringe of the horizon of their sensors or even slightly beyond.The next rover missions to Mars are the "Mars Science Laboratory" (MSL) [2] and ESA's ExoMars [3]. Both of these missions have set target traverse distances on the order of one kilometer per day. Both the MSL and ExoMars rovers are therefore expected to drive regularly a significant distance beyond the horizon of their environment sensors. Earthbased operators will therefore not know a-priori the detailed geometry of the environment and will thus not be able to select via-points for the rovers throughout their traverses.One of the key technologies that will be required is the ability to sense and model the 3D environment in which the rover has to navigate. To address the above mentioned issues, the Canadian Space Agency is developing a suite of technologies for long-range rover navigation. For the purposes of this paper, "long-range" is defined as a traverse that takes the rover beyond the horizon of the rover's environment sensors.In the next Section we discuss the state-of-the-art in robotic planetary exploration. Section II presents the overall process for planetary exploration together with a short description of our test-bed. Next we present a summary of our approach to environmental modelling, Section IV

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Terrain Modelling for Planetary Exploration

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

Range‐dependent Terrain Mapping and Multipath Planning using Cylindrical Coordinates for a Planetary Exploration Rover

Range‐dependent Terrain Mapping and Multipath Planning using Cylindrical Coordinates for a Planetary Exploration Rover

Path Planning for Planetary Exploration

Autonomous planetary exploration using LIDAR data

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