The science autonomy system of the Nomad robot

• Main Authors: Michael D. Wagner, Dimitrios Apostolopoulos, Kimberly Shillcutt, Benjamin Shamah, Reid Simmons, William “red Whittaker
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: robotic meteorite search; science autonomy system; robot control architecture; planning Figure 1. The Nomad robot searching for meteorites in; Elephant Moraine; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.89.3283; http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/meteorobot/exp2k/2001PUBLICATIONS/SAS-ICRA01-FINAL.pdf

The Science Autonomy System (SAS) is a hierarchical control architecture for exploration and in situ science that integrates sensing, navigation, classification and mission planning. The Nomad robot demonstrated the capabilities of the SAS during a January 2000 expedition to Elephant Moraine, Antarctica where it accomplished the first meteorite discoveries made by a robot. In this paper, the structure and functionality of the three-tiered SAS are detailed. Results and lessons learned are presented with a focus on important future research.