LEAP - Legged Exploration of the Aristarchus Plateau
Authors: Bambach Patrick , Bickel Valentin , Kolvenbach Hendrik , Valsecchi Giorgio , Steininger Harald , Eaton Nicholas , Hiesinger Harald , Patel Manish 
Published: September 2022

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Abstract&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Mobile robotic surface platforms are critical for the ex&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ploration of the solar system. In the past, robotic ex-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;plorers were limited by their abilities to navigate and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;traverse challenging terrain, such as boulder fields and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;slopes steeper than&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;15&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&amp;#176;. The ESA topical team &amp;#8217;LEAP&amp;#8217; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;studies the feasibility of using an innovative loco-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;motion system - a dynamically walking quadrupedal &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;robot - to address challenging terrain and unlock hard-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to-reach, but high-reward scientific targets. Here, we &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;present preliminary results of this assessment, includ-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ing 1) the selection of several promising science tar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;gets that are inaccessible by traditional means, 2) our&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;robotic platform, 3) a provisional payload suite that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;can address relevant science questions, and 4) sugges-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;tions for future hard- and software developments.&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plain Language Summary&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;Geologically interesting sites, such as outcrops, slopes, and caves, are often difficult to access. The&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;ESA Topical team &amp;#8217;LEAP&amp;#8217; studies the feasibility of using an innovative locomotion platform - a legged&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;robot - to access such sites, potentially enabling unprecedented sampling and science opportunities. In&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;this work, we present our preliminary findings.&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Mission scenario&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;Triggered by ESA&amp;#8217;s call for ideas(https://tinyurl.com/mrxn8f5u) on exploring the Moon with a large European lander (L3), we have&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;formed a topical team to assess the potential of an innovative robotic platform to provide access to&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;high-risk &amp; high-reward targets on the moon(Fig. 1).&amp;#160; &amp;#8217;LEAP&amp;#8217; (Legged Exploration of the&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;Aristarchus Plateau) is considering science targets on the Aristarchus plateau (AP).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;AP is a geologically uniquely diverse region that hosts one of the highest&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;concentrations of volcanic features - including an irregular mare patch (IMP) and widespread evidence&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;for multiphased volcanism (Glotch et al., 2020). While our analysis of the plateau and the literature is&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;currently ongoing, we identified four geologic targets that appear to be inaccessible by traditional surface&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;assets, but could potentially enable transformational science: #1 the flank and peak of Herodotus Mons, #2&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;pits in Aristarchus&amp;#8217; IMP, #3 skylights and fractured terrain around Aristarchus crater&amp;#8217;s central peak, and&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;#4 the bright outcrops at Cobra Head (Fig. 2a). The identified targets enable the study of a large&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;number of highly relevant science objectives, including many of ESA&amp;#8217;s priority goals, such as: A) the&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;analysis of new and diverse (silicic, basaltic, and other) samples, B) the detection &amp; characterization&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;of volatiles, C)&amp;#160; deployment of geophysical instruments, D) the characterization of the lunar dust envi-&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;ronment, while E) demonstrating unprecedented surface mobility (ESA, 2019). Sites could be traversed&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;by one or multiple quadruped robots within one lunar day, starting from, for example, ESA&amp;#8217;s L3(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;https://tinyurl.com/2p8vfd9n&lt;/span&gt;)&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;2&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Legged robots for exploration&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Legged&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;locomotion&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;systems&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;are&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ideal&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;navigate &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;difficult terrain on Mars or the Moon. They are less&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;likely to get stuck in loose regolith and can traverse &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;slopes up to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;25&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&amp;#176; or steeper, including large rocks&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and other obstacles.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;LEAP uses the quadrupedal &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;robot ANYmal&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;(Hutter et al., 2017)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ANYmal can&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;adapt its walking mode to different environmental &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;conditions. These modes range from energy-efficient,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;over traversing,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to stabilized walking.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;The latter &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;allows to satisfy measurement requirements of the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;instruments. The traversing mode allows for&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;0&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;5 m&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;s &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to cross low-risk &amp; low-interest areas efficiently.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ANYmal can use its limbs to manipulate the envi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ronment, including trenching and scraping. ANYmal&amp;#8217;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;locomotion system proved its reliability in dusty envi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ronments as the joints need to only allow rotations of&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;up to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;270&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&amp;#176; and are sealed against dust. The robot can &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;recover and get back on its feet from any position and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;is able to fall back to three- or even two-legged walk&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ing if one or two legs fail.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;3. Instrumentation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;The initial design has a payload mass bud&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;get of&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;15 kg&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and provides between&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;15 W&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;100 W&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;of&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;power, depending on the current thermal loads.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;For &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;the (autonomous) operation of the robot, two baseline&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;instruments are used: lidars and cameras, which pro&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;vide&amp;#160; 3D information for navigation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Depending on the mission profile, a variety &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;of additional science payloads can be attached to the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;robot, such as a ground-penetrating radar, a gravime&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ter,&amp;#160; neutron or mass spectrometers or a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;sampling arm, &amp; VIS/NIR/UV imager, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and a Raman spectrometer.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;The current list of pay-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;loads allows the robot to address a wide range of sci&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;ence questions related to geomorphology, mineralogy,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and petrography. We are currently refining the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;&amp;#160;selection of payloads.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;This topical team is supported by ESA under grant&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;agreement 4000135310/21/NL/PA/pt.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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