Orbit Logic Tackles Autonomous Lunar Exploration with Robotic Swarms by Staff Writers Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 09, 2021
Orbit Logic has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract sponsored by NASA to develop the Intelligent Navigation, Planning, and Awareness for Swarm Systems (IN-PASS) solution - an autonomous planning architecture supporting collaborative Lunar exploration with teams of humans cooperating with heterogeneous swarms of orbital (satellite) and surface (rover) assets. IN-PASS is being developed in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Orbit Logic's existing Autonomous Planning System (APS) is the foundation of the IN-PASS architecture. An instance of APS will operate onboard each swarm asset to provide asset level resource planning and independence as well as to enable autonomous cooperation between assets over intermittently available communication links. Under this effort, Orbit Logic will develop the human-robot teaming in APS so that astronauts or mission operators can interact as "humans-on-the-loop" with IN-PASS to provide guidance, shape mission objectives, and directly participate by handling tasks that are uniquely suited to human dexterity or cognition. The net result will be that humans will be able to leverage the full capabilities of a heterogeneous robotic swarm without micromanaging the actions of each individual asset. CU's Event-Triggered Decentralized Data Fusion (ET-DDF) algorithm will maintain a common relevant operations picture (CROP) with minimal data exchange. Specialized communication models will be developed to simulate this data exchange accurately. Finally, Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) will be used for task specification and multi-objective control policies will be designed to tradeoff navigation performance and resource use onboard rovers. In addition, CU's ASPEN lab will provide an environment for mixed-mode hardware testing with real wheeled robots. APS is a powerful technology that can be leveraged for autonomous planning in any domain. The breadth of its applications proves its flexibility; beyond robotic Lunar exploration, Orbit Logic has utilized APS for the autonomous operation of heterogeneous constellations of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites with DARPA and AFRL, heterogeneous swarms of unmanned underwater/surface/aerial vehicles (UUVs/USVs/UAVs) with the Navy, and heterogeneous swarms of rovers, satellites, and atmospheric vehicles for robotic Mars exploration with NASA.
Armstrong Assists with Orion for First Astronaut Mission Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Feb 05, 2021 As NASA's human spaceflight centers are busy preparing the Orion spacecraft and its components for the early Artemis missions around the Moon, a NASA aeronautics-focused center is lending a hand. NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is providing system engineering and integration expertise to assist with an Orion heat shield spectrometer system (OHSS). The system will be used during the Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission for NASA's Orion spacecraft. It will pro ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |