Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites
Meteorites are the only significant source of material from other planets and asteroids, and therefore are of immense scientific value. Antarctica’s frozen and pristine environment has proven to be the best place on earth to harvest meteorite specimens. The lack of melting and surface erosion keep m...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/02783640022067940 2024-04-28T07:56:00+00:00 Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites Apostolopoulos, Dimitrios S. Wagner, Michael D. Shamah, Benjamin N. Pedersen, Liam Shillcutt, Kimberly Whittaker, William L. 2000 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02783640022067940 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02783640022067940 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The International Journal of Robotics Research volume 19, issue 11, page 1015-1032 ISSN 0278-3649 1741-3176 Applied Mathematics Artificial Intelligence Electrical and Electronic Engineering Mechanical Engineering Modeling and Simulation Software journal-article 2000 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/02783640022067940 2024-04-09T08:00:57Z Meteorites are the only significant source of material from other planets and asteroids, and therefore are of immense scientific value. Antarctica’s frozen and pristine environment has proven to be the best place on earth to harvest meteorite specimens. The lack of melting and surface erosion keep meteorite falls visible on the ice surface in pristine condition for thousands of years. In this article, we describe the robotic technologies and field demonstration that enabled the first discovery of Antarctic meteorites by a robot. Using a novel autonomous control architecture, specialized science sensing, combined manipulation and visual servoing, and Bayesian classification, the Nomad robot found and classified five indigenous meteorites during an expedition to the remote site of Elephant Moraine in January 2000. This article first overviews Nomad’s mechatronic systems and details the control architecture that governs the robot’s autonomy and classifier that enables the autonomous interpretation of scientific data. It then focuses on the technical results achieved during field demonstrations at Elephant Moraine. Finally, the article discusses the benefits and limitations of robotic autonomy in science missions. Science autonomy is shown as a capable and expandable architecture for exploration and in situ classification. Inefficiencies in the existing implementation are explained with a focus on important lessons that outline future work. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic SAGE Publications The International Journal of Robotics Research 19 11 1015 1032 |
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Open Polar |
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SAGE Publications |
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English |
topic |
Applied Mathematics Artificial Intelligence Electrical and Electronic Engineering Mechanical Engineering Modeling and Simulation Software |
spellingShingle |
Applied Mathematics Artificial Intelligence Electrical and Electronic Engineering Mechanical Engineering Modeling and Simulation Software Apostolopoulos, Dimitrios S. Wagner, Michael D. Shamah, Benjamin N. Pedersen, Liam Shillcutt, Kimberly Whittaker, William L. Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
topic_facet |
Applied Mathematics Artificial Intelligence Electrical and Electronic Engineering Mechanical Engineering Modeling and Simulation Software |
description |
Meteorites are the only significant source of material from other planets and asteroids, and therefore are of immense scientific value. Antarctica’s frozen and pristine environment has proven to be the best place on earth to harvest meteorite specimens. The lack of melting and surface erosion keep meteorite falls visible on the ice surface in pristine condition for thousands of years. In this article, we describe the robotic technologies and field demonstration that enabled the first discovery of Antarctic meteorites by a robot. Using a novel autonomous control architecture, specialized science sensing, combined manipulation and visual servoing, and Bayesian classification, the Nomad robot found and classified five indigenous meteorites during an expedition to the remote site of Elephant Moraine in January 2000. This article first overviews Nomad’s mechatronic systems and details the control architecture that governs the robot’s autonomy and classifier that enables the autonomous interpretation of scientific data. It then focuses on the technical results achieved during field demonstrations at Elephant Moraine. Finally, the article discusses the benefits and limitations of robotic autonomy in science missions. Science autonomy is shown as a capable and expandable architecture for exploration and in situ classification. Inefficiencies in the existing implementation are explained with a focus on important lessons that outline future work. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Apostolopoulos, Dimitrios S. Wagner, Michael D. Shamah, Benjamin N. Pedersen, Liam Shillcutt, Kimberly Whittaker, William L. |
author_facet |
Apostolopoulos, Dimitrios S. Wagner, Michael D. Shamah, Benjamin N. Pedersen, Liam Shillcutt, Kimberly Whittaker, William L. |
author_sort |
Apostolopoulos, Dimitrios S. |
title |
Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
title_short |
Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
title_full |
Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
title_fullStr |
Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
title_full_unstemmed |
Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites |
title_sort |
technology and field demonstration of robotic search for antarctic meteorites |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02783640022067940 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02783640022067940 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
The International Journal of Robotics Research volume 19, issue 11, page 1015-1032 ISSN 0278-3649 1741-3176 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02783640022067940 |
container_title |
The International Journal of Robotics Research |
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19 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1015 |
op_container_end_page |
1032 |
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1797581747393658880 |