Multiple-target Single Cycle Instrument Placement

Approaching targets and placing instruments on them is fundamental to planetary exploration. Because of communications, power and operational limitations, it currently takes 3 full sol command cycles to accomplish this on Mars with the MER rovers. To accomplish single cycle instrument placement (SCIP) on multiple targets, we developed and integrated precision visual tracking, off-board contingency planning, robust execution, autonomous instrument placement, round trip data tracking, and a photorealistic virtual reality system to visualize the robot’s environment and returned data products, and request further measurements. Our system has demonstrated a tenfold improvement in robotic capability, as measured by number of samples measured in a single command uplink, by getting 3um/pixel microscopic images from 3 targets designated with 1cm accuracy and up to 10m distant from the rover start position in a single command cycle, executed in under 3 hours.