Robert Ivlev

Behavior control for robotic exploration of planetary surfaces

This paper describes a series of robots developed at JPL to demonstrate the feasibility of using a behavior-control approach to control small robots on planetary surfaces. The round-trip light-time delay makes direct teleoperation of a mobile robot on a planetary surface impossible. Planetary rovers must therefore possess a certain degree of autonomy. However, small robots can only support small computers (due mostly to power, not size constraints). Behavior control provides a means of autonomous control that requires very little computation. The robots described in this paper all used 8-bit, 1-MIP microprocessors with as little as 4 k and no more than 40 k of memory, and extremely simple sensors. Despite these limitations they reliably perform both autonomous navigation and manipulation in both indoor and outdoor rough-terrain environments. >

The Rocky 7 rover: a Mars sciencecraft prototype

This paper describes the design and implementation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of a small rover for future Mars missions requiring long traverses and rover-based science experiments. The small rover prototype, called Rocky 7, is capable of long traverses, autonomous navigation, and science instrument control. This rover carries three science instruments, and can be commanded from any computer platform from any location using the World Wide Web. In this paper we describe the mobility system, the sampling system, the sensor suite, navigation and control, onboard science instruments, and the ground command and control system. We also present key accomplishments of a recent field test of Rocky 7 in the Mojave Desert in California.

The Rocky 7 Mars rover prototype

This paper provides a system overview of a new Mars rover prototype, Rocky 7. We describe all system aspects: mechanical and electrical design, computer and software infrastructure, algorithms for navigation and manipulation, science data acquisition, and outdoor rover testing. In each area, the improved or added functionality is explained in a context of its path to flight, and need within the constraints of desired science missions.

Rocky 7: a next generation Mars rover prototype

This paper provides a system overview of a new Mars rover prototype, Rocky 7. We describe all system aspects: mechanical and electrical design, computer and software infrastructure, algorithms for navigation and manipulation, science data acquisition, and outdoor rover testing. In each area, the improved or added functionality is explained in a context of its path to flight and within the constraints of desired science missions.

A prototype manipulation system for Mars rover science operations

This paper provides an overview of a new manipulation system developed for sampling and instrument placement from small autonomous mobile robots for Mars exploration. Selected out of the design space, two manipulators have been constructed and integrated into the Rocky 7 Mars rover prototype. This paper describes the design objectives and constraints for these manipulators, and presents the finished system and some results from its operation.

Behavior control for planetary exploration: interim report

Describes work in progress on Rocky IV, a prototype microrover designed to demonstrate proof-of-concept for a low-cost scientific mission to Mars. Rocky IV is currently the baseline design for the MESUR mission scheduled for launch in 1996. Rocky IV uses a behavior-based control architecture which implements a large variety of functions displaying various degrees of autonomy, from completely autonomous navigation to very precisely described actions resembling classical AI operators. The control system integrates information from infrared proximity sensors, proprioceptive encoders which report on the state of the articulation of the rovers suspension system and other mechanics, a homing beacon, a magnetic compass, and contact sensors. The robot is able to perform a variety of useful tasks, including soil sample collection, removal of surface weathering layers from rocks, spectral imaging, instrument deployment, and sample return, under realistic mission-like conditions in Mars-like terrain.<<ETX>>