Robotics for
Human Exploration

Future human missions to the Moon, Mars, and

other destinations offer many new opportunities for
exploration. But, astronaut time will always be limited
and some work will not be feasible for humans to do
manually. Robots, however, can complement human
explorers, performing work autonomously and under
remote supervision from Earth.

Robots can do a variety of work to increase the
productivity of human explorers. Robots can perform
tasks (systematic survey, inspection, etc.) that are
tedious, highly-repetitive or long-duration. Robots can
perform tasks, such as advance scouting, that help
prepare for future crew activity. Robots can also perform
“follow-up” work, completing tasks designated or
started by humans.

Since 2004, the Intelligent Robotics Group has been
working to make human-robot interaction efficient and
effective for space exploration. A central focus of our
research has been to develop and field test robots

that benefit human exploration. Our approach is inspired
by lessons learned from the Mars Exploration Rovers,
as well as human spaceflight programs, including
Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and the International

Space Station.

Space Robots

IRG develops planetary rovers and assistive free-flyers to
advance robot technologies needed for future exploration
missions. K10 is a versatile robot designed to perform field work,
including site surveys, scouting, and inspection. K-REX is a
high-performance rover that can carry a 200 kg payload over
rough terrain. Astrobees are free-flying robots that can perform a
variety of astronaut support tasks inside spacecraft

Research Facilities

IRG's research and development facilities include an electronics
lab, two collaboration workspaces, two free-flying robot labs, and
the Roverscape outdoor test area. The Roverscape is an 85m x
135m facility for mobile robot research, development, and testing,
as well as for conducting medium-fidelity mission simulations. IRG
also makes extensive use of the supercomputing and cloud
computing facilities at NASA Ames, in addition to its own large
luster of workstations.

Open Source Software

IRG is committed to developing and releasing open source
software, Open sourcing increases software quality, acoeler-
ates software development, and improves technology transfer
to/from NASA. IRG's open source software includes: the Ames
Stereo Pipeline, Astrobee Robot Software & Astrobee Control
Station, Crisis Mapping Toolkit, Exploration Ground Data
Systems (xGDS), GeoCam, NASA Vision Workbench, the
Neo-Geography Toolkit, the Robot Application Programming
Interface Delegate (RAPID), Rover Software (RoverSW), and
the Visual Environment for Remote & Virtual Exploration
(VERVE). Visit: irg.arc.nasa.gov.

enables humans

and robots to explore and learn about extreme environments, remote locations, and
uncharted worlds. IRG conducts applied research in a wide range of areas including
computer vision, geospatial data systems, human-robot interaction, interactive 3D
visualization, and robot software architecture.

We firmly believe that collaboration is essential to high-quality research. Thus, we
actively encourage joint projects with academia, govemment, and industry. If you
are interested in collaborating or have an application that can benefit from our

technology, please contact us today.

For more information about the Intelligent Robotics Group:

www.nasa.gov

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Intelligent Systems Division
NASA Ames Research Center

Intelligent Robotics Group

ICS



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Deep Earth Learning, Tools, and
Analysis (DELTA) toolkit

NASA Ames is partnering with the United States Geological
Survery (USGS) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
(NGA) to develop DELTA, an open source toolkit for deep leaming
on satellite imagery. DELTA will empower Earth scientists to

achieve state-of-the-art classification results with litte to no
knowledge of machine leaming or computer programming.

Initially, DELTA will be trained and evaluated for mapping floods
for disaster response and recovery. Potential later uses include studying other
natural disasters, changing land-use pattems, climate change, and more

Digital Terrain Models and the
NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP)

Digital terrain models are essential for cartography, Science
analysis, and mission planning and operations. We have
developed software to automatically generate high-quality
===} topographic and albedo models from satellite images. Our software
uses multi-view geometry and photoclinometric techniques to
produce 3D models with very high accuracy and resolution
ASP is an open source C++ framework for deriving, manipulating,
and synthesizing terrain and shape data products. ASP has been
used to create 3D terrain models for landing sites on Mars, topography on icy
satellites and Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) in the outer solar system, as well as
glaciers, mountains, and volcanoes here on Earth. Visit:
https:('github.com/NeoGeographyToolkit/StereoPipeline

Exploration Ground Data System (xGDS)

xGDS is a web-based software system for managing science
and operations data for human and missions. xGDS

for mission planning, data management,
visualization, and analysis, xGDS is modular, uses open source
software and open standards, and can be rapidly adapted to
different missions. xGDS has supported a wide range of field

includes

studies and simulated exploration missions.

NASA's future robotic exploration targets include spike-covered
icy surfaces on Europa, liquid methane lakes on Titan, and
other environments that exist at the limits of imagination. IRG is
developing novel sensors and a perception capability to enable
robots to see in these extreme environments. Our approach
blends elements of computer vision, optics, and physics-based
simulation to understand planetary environments and target
effective sensing modalities. We are also developing advanced decision-making
and in-situ processing techniques to optimize information collected from our
approaches. Technologies innovated by IRG include thermal vision-based
navigation for landing on icy surfaces, cold-gas projectiles that map in ballistic
flight and form monitoring networks once emplaced, and programmable
microscopes that model individual grains of soil in 3D.

GeoCam Space

& The GeoCam Space project is developing a camera hardware
accessory and Web-based software to improve cataloging and
gedlocation of Earth images taken by astronauts on the ISS.

The accessory will attach to handheld digital cameras and record
pointing information. The Web-based software performs semi-
automated photo-to-map alignment and facilitates creating digital
map overlays.

Integrated System for Autonomous
and Adaptive Caretaking (ISAAC)

The ISAAC project uses both the Astrobee free-flyers and the
Robonaut 2 humanoid robot on the ISS to develop autonomous
caretaking capabilities that will enable safe and reliable operation
of future human spacecraft, such as the planned lunar orbiting
Gateway, especially during extended periods when astronauts
are not present.

Research and Simulation (OceanWATERS)

OceanWaATERS is an open source simulator for developing
on-board autonomy software for the robotic exploration of ocean
worlds, such as Europa, Enceladus, and Titan. The simulator
emulates surface conditions, robotic manipulator operation, and
lander systems. The simulator is modeled on the Europa Lander
mission, but could be configured for other lander missions and
planetary bodies.

Ocean Worlds Autonomy Testbed for Exploration

Skylights and Caves robotic technologies

2A Skylights are gigantic sinkholes that might lead to intact caves on
other planets. Exploration of these features is crucial for science,
fesource development, and future habitation throughout the solar
System. We are developing robotic technologies for exploring
subterranean environments — from life-detection payloads to
automated mapping software — and testing them in field
experimentation at terrestrial analog sites. IRG plans a technol-
‘gy demonstration by participating in the first commercially4ed micro-rover
mission to visit and circumnavigate one of the major Lunar skylights.

Tensegrity Robotics

Robots based on tensegrity structures have significant potential
to reduce the size, mass, and energy required for manipulation
and mobility in space. Tensegrity structures are extremely
lightweight, can be compactly stored for launch, are inherently
compliant, and are highly robust. Our work focuses on
developing these highly non-linear structures to enable new
‘science missions for extreme terrain locations.

Visual Environment for Remote &
Virtual Exploration (VERVE)

VERVE is a high-performance, 3D, user interface for visualizing
robot data in real-time. VERVE uses a component-based
‘software architecture to flexibly support different applications
and users. VERVE has been used to remotely operate many
NASA mobile robots in a wide variety of planetary analog

field tests.

Volatiles Investigating Polar
Exploration Rover (VIPER)

VIPER is @ 2023 rover mission that will search for subsurface
volatiles, such as water ice, in the polar regions of the Moon. We
are developing the on-board software, navigation systems, and
robot driving toals for the rover. We are also creating 3D lunar
terrain maps from satellite images for mission planning and
providing software to support high-tempo science operations.