Login / Signup

Autonomous robotics is driving Perseverance rover's progress on Mars.

Vandi VermaMark W MaimoneDaniel M GainesRaymond FrancisTara A EstlinStephen R KuhnGregg R RabideauSteve A ChienMichael M McHenryEvan J GraserArturo L RankinEllen R Thiel
Published in: Science robotics (2023)
NASA's Perseverance rover uses robotic autonomy to achieve its mission goals on Mars. Its self-driving autonomous navigation system (AutoNav) has been used to evaluate 88% of the 17.7-kilometer distance traveled during its first Mars year of operation. Previously, the maximum total autonomous distance evaluated was 2.4 kilometers by the Opportunity rover during its 14-year lifetime. AutoNav has set multiple planetary rover records, including the greatest distance driven without human review (699.9 meters) and the greatest single-day drive distance (347.7 meters). The Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) system analyzes wide-angle imagery onboard to autonomously select targets for observations by the SuperCam instrument, a multimode sensor suite capable of millimeter-scale geochemical and mineralogical analysis. AEGIS enables observations of scientifically interesting targets during or immediately after long drives without the need for ground communication. OnBoard Planner (OBP) is a scheduling capability planned for operational use in September 2023 that has the potential to reduce energy usage by up to 20% and complete drive and arm-contact science campaigns in 25% fewer days on Mars. This paper presents an overview of the AutoNav, AEGIS, and OBP capabilities used on Perseverance.
Keyphrases
  • public health
  • endothelial cells
  • high resolution
  • heavy metals
  • robot assisted
  • global health
  • climate change
  • human health
  • drinking water