An integrated power aware system for robotic-based lunar exploration

An integrated system for a power-aware robotic-centric exploratory lunar mission is the subject of this article. The robots communicate with a base station with a flexible protocol that can automatically change its attributes from multi to single hopping strategies according to the QoS of the entire network. The base station is responsible for the tracking of the robots and their re-charging. The robots´ recharging is achieved via an optical-to-electrical energy procedure where a laser beam charges the photovoltaic cells attached at each robot. The experimental studies on a swarm of robots reveal the intricacies involved in a typical robotic-centric lunar exploration mission.