13 citations · 103 across the 48 of their papers we have counts for
23 papers · 1 filter
Distributed Infrastructure Sensors and Cues for Robotic Fire-Fighting and Safety System on a Lunar Base
Alexis Munguia, Eryc Rodriguez, Drake Russ +1
There are renewed efforts to build a lunar base and house a team of astronauts on the Moon for extended periods. However, important challenges remain, such as a rapid-response fire…
Co-Evolution of Multi-Robot Controllers and Task Cues for Off-World Open Pit Mining
Jekan Thangavelautham, Yinan Xu
Robots are ideal for open-pit mining on the Moon as its a dull, dirty, and dangerous task. The challenge is to scale up productivity with an ever-increasing number of robots. This…
Autonomous Robot Swarms for Off-World Construction and Resource Mining
Jekan Thangavelautham
Kick-starting the space economy requires identification of critical resources that can lower the cost of space transport, sustain logistic bases and communication relay networks be…
Autonomous Multirobot Technologies for Mars Mining Base Construction and Operation
Jekan Thangavelautham, Aman Chandra, Erik Jensen
Beyond space exploration, the next critical step towards living and working in space requires developing a space economy. One important challenge with this space-economy is ensurin…
Automated Multidisciplinary Design and Control of Hopping Robots for Exploration of Extreme Environments on the Moon and Mars
Himangshu Kalita, Jekan Thangavelautham
The next frontier in solar system exploration will be missions targeting extreme and rugged environments such as caves, canyons, cliffs and crater rims of the Moon, Mars and icy mo…
A Spring Propelled Extreme Environment Robot for Off-World Cave Exploration
Steven Morad, Thomas Dailey, Leonard Vance +1
Pits on the Moon and Mars are intriguing geological formations that have yet to be explored. These geological formations can provide protection from harsh diurnal temperature varia…
Motion Planning on an Asteroid Surface with Irregular Gravity Fields
Himangshu Kalita, Jekan Thangavelautham
There are thousands of asteroids in near-Earth space and millions in the Main Belt. They are diverse in physical properties and composition and are time capsules of the early solar…
Coordination and Control of Multiple Climbing Robots in Transport of Heavy Loads through Extreme Terrain
Himangshu Kalita, Steven Morad, Jekan Thangavelautham
The discovery of ice deposits in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar North and South Pole Moon presents an important opportunity for In-Situ Resource Utilization. These i…
Satellite Capture and Servicing Using Networks of Tethered Robots Supported by Ground Surveillance
Himangshu Kalita, Roberto Furfaro, Jekan Thangavelautham
There is ever growing demand for satellite constellations that perform global positioning, remote sensing, earth-imaging and relay communication. In these highly prized orbits, the…
Planning and Navigation of Climbing Robots in Low-Gravity Environments
Steven Morad, Himangshu Kalita, Jekan Thangavelautham
Advances in planetary robotics have led to wheeled robots that have beamed back invaluable science data from the surface of the Moon and Mars. However, these large wheeled robots a…
Path Planning and Navigation Inside Off-World Lava Tubes and Caves
Himangshu Kalita, Steven Morad, Jekan Thangavelautham
Detailed surface images of the Moon and Mars reveal hundreds of cave-like openings. These cave-like openings are theorized to be remnants of lava-tubes and their interior maybe in…
Mobility and Science operations On An Asteroid Using a Hopping Small Spacecraft on Stilts
H. Kalita, S. Schwartz, E. Asphaug +1
There are thousands of asteroids in near-Earth space and millions in the Main Belt. They are diverse in physical properties and composition and are time capsules of the early solar…
An Information Theoretic Approach to Sample Acquisition and Perception in Planetary Robotics
Garrett Fleetwood, Jekan Thangavelautham
An important and emerging component of planetary exploration is sample retrieval and return to Earth. Obtaining and analyzing rock samples can provide unprecedented insight into th…
Network of Nano-Landers for In-Situ Characterization of Asteroid Impact Studies
Himangshu Kalita, Erik Asphaug, Stephen Schwartz +1
Exploration of asteroids and comets can give insight into the origins of the solar system and can be instrumental in planetary defence and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Aste…
Multirobot Cliff Climbing on Low-Gravity Environments
Himangshu Kalita, Jekan Thangavelautham
Exploration of extreme environments, including caves, canyons and cliffs on low-gravity surfaces such as the Moon, Mars and asteroids can provide insight into the geological histor…
An Experimental Platform for Multi-spacecraft Phase-Array Communications
Aaditya Ravindran, Ravi Teja Nallapu, Andrew Warren +3
The emergence of small satellites and CubeSats for interplanetary exploration will mean hundreds if not thousands of spacecraft exploring every corner of the solar-system. Current…
Guidance, Navigation and Control of Multirobot Systems in Cooperative Cliff Climbing
Himangshu Kalita, Ravi Teja Nallapu, Andrew Warren +1
The application of GNC devices on small robots is a game-changer that enables these robots to be mobile on low-gravity planetary surfaces and small bodies. Use of reaction wheels e…
Spherical Planetary Robot for Rugged Terrain Traversal
Laksh Raura, Andrew Warren, Jekan Thangavelautham
Wheeled planetary rovers such as the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) have provided unprecedented, detailed images of the Mars surface. However, the…
Hybrid Fuel Cells Power for Long Duration Robot Missions in Field Environments
Jekan Thangavelautham, Danielle Gallardo, Daniel Strawser +1
Mobile robots are often needed for long duration missions. These include search and rescue, sentry, repair, surveillance and entertainment. Current power supply technology limit wa…
GNC of the SphereX Robot for Extreme Environment Exploration on Mars
Himangshu Kalita, Ravi Teja Nallapu, Andrew Warren +1
Wheeled ground robots are limited from exploring extreme environments such as caves, lava tubes and skylights. Small robots that can utilize unconventional mobility through hopping…
Flying, Hopping Pit-Bots for Cave and Lava Tube Exploration on the Moon and Mars
Jekanthan Thangavelautham, Mark S. Robinson, Alexander Taits +3
Wheeled ground robots are limited from exploring extreme environments such as caves, lava tubes and skylights. Small robots that utilize unconventional mobility through hopping, fl…
Optimized Bucket Wheel Design for Asteroid Excavation
Ravi Teja Nallapu, Andrew Thoesen, Laurence Garvie +2
Current spacecraft need to launch with all of their required fuel for travel. This limits the system performance, payload capacity, and mission flexibility. One compelling alternat…
Autonomous Multirobot Excavation for Lunar Applications
Jekanthan Thangavelautham, Kenneth Law, Terence Fu +3
In this paper, a control approach called Artificial Neural Tissue (ANT) is applied to multirobot excavation for lunar base preparation tasks including clearing landing pads and bur…