Seeker-Autonomous Long-range Rover Navigation for Remote Exploration

Under the umbrella of the European Space Agency ESA StarTiger program, a rapid prototyping study called Seeker was initiated. A range of partners from space and nonspace sectors were brought together to develop a prototype Mars rover system capable of autonomously exploring several kilometers of highly representative Mars terrain over a three-day period. This paper reports on our approach and the final field trials that took place in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Long-range navigation and the associated remote rover field trials are a new departure for ESA, and this activity therefore represents a novel initiative in this area. The primary focus was to determine if current computer vision and artificial intelligence based software could enable such a capability on Mars, given the current limit of around 200 m per Martian day. The paper does not seek to introduce new theoretical techniques or compare various approaches, but it offers a unique perspective on their behavior in a highly representative environment. The final system autonomously navigated 5.05i¾?km in highly representative terrain during one day. This work is part of a wider effort to achieve a step change in autonomous capability for future Mars/lunar exploration rover platforms.