Title :
The Mars Exploration Rover instrument positioning system
Author :
Baumgartner, Eric T. ; Bonitz, Robert G. ; Melko, Joseph P. ; Shiraishi, Lori R. ; Leger, P. Chris
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
During Mars Exploration Rover (MER) surface operations, the scientific data gathered by the in situ instrument suite has been invaluable with respect to the discovery of a significant water history at Meridiani Planum and the hint of water processes at work in Gusev Crater. Specifically, the ability to perform precision manipulation from a mobile platform (i.e., mobile manipulation) has been a critical part of the successful operation of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. As such, this paper describes the MER instrument positioning system that allows the in situ instruments to operate and collect their important science data using a robust, dexterous robotic arm combined with visual target selection and autonomous software functions.
Keywords :
Mars; aerospace instrumentation; aerospace robotics; astronomical instruments; dexterous manipulators; mobile robots; planetary rovers; Gusev Crater; Mars Exploration Rover; Meridiani Planum; Opportunity; Spirit; autonomous software; instrument positioning system; robotic arm; visual target selection; Calibration; Cameras; Instruments; Mars; Propulsion; Robot vision systems; Robustness; Soil; Spectroscopy; Surface morphology;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference, 2005 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Big Sky, MT
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8870-4
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2005.1559295