Atacama Desert Trek

Introduction

The purpose of the Lunar Rover Demonstration - Atacama Desert Trek is to demonstrate enabling capabilities for high-performance planetary exploration by mobile robots. The project, part of the CMU Lunar Rover Initiative, will demonstrate and validate these capabilities in terrestrial analogs to telerobotic planetary exploration, and provide critical technologies to NASA for near-term planetary missions and to the private sector for planetary enterprise. The Central focus of this task is to successfully deliver its level one milestone: completion of a 200 km field trial traverse across Chile's Atacama desert, demonstrating robust locomotion, navigation, visualization, and communication capabilities. The field mission is scheduled to run during June and July 1997

FY97 project goals are to:

• Complete fabrication and integration of component systems on Nomad, the next generation prototype Lunar Rover.
• Demonstrate robust locomotion, navigation, visualization, and communications in a 200 km, unattended traverse in the planetary analog terrain of Chile's Atacama desert.
• Perform end-to-end trial under remote control; teleoperation and autonomous control with simulated time delays.
• Provide a realistic desert experience for remote novice operators through high-quality imagery and a virtual environment interface.

A. Significant Activities and Events During this Period

Demonstrated sensor data acquisition in Real Time System (GPS, Gyrocompass, IMU, Laser scanner).

Incorporated stereo camera wide angle lenses into complete terrain mapping system with acceptable performance (approx 10% slowdown in processing time, but a much wider field of view is covered). [Project Link]

Acquired final power system.

Demonstrated communications at acceptable bandwidth from Nomad, through a relay station, to the command center.

Demonstrated display of live panospheric imagery, communicated over the Internet at low bandwidth to the primary immersive display in the Carnegie Science Center. Designed heads-up display to complement panospheric imagery.

Demonstrated joystick and wireless control of Nomad.

Created Tcl-based Scientist User Interface for remote control of Nomad.

Acquired command truck for US and Chile operations.

B. Plans for the Next Reporting Period

Demonstrate and characterize merged position estimates from onboard sensors, using onboard processors.

Configure test site for locomotion, navigation, and communications pre-trial shakedown.

Demonstrate safeguarded teleoperation and obstacle-avoidance autonomy on Nomad.

Perform Readiness Review.

Demonstrate novice user interface at the Carnegie Science Center.

Ship Nomad, Command Truck, support hardware, and away team to Chile.

Perform the Gala Grand Opening of the 200 km Atacama Desert Trek at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center on 18 June, 1997.

Provide live demo during University TRIWG session.

Perform a week of field trial operations with scientists working remotely at NASA Ames, employing ground truth support from the away team and Chilean geologists in the Atacama.

C. Schedule

D. Concerns/Issues