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Navigation Results from Desert Field Tests of the Rocky 7 Mars Rover PrototypeJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USAvolpe{at}jpl.nasa.gov Upcoming missions to the surface of Mars will use mobile robots to traverse long distances from the landing site. To prepare for these missions, the prototype rover, Rocky 7, has been tested in desert field trials conducted with a team of planetary scientists. While several new capabilities have been demonstrated, foremost among these was sun-sensor-based traversal of natural terrain totaling a distance of 1 km. This paper describes navigation results obtained in the field tests, where cross-track error was only 6% of the distance traveled. Comparison with previous results of other planetary rover systems shows this to be a significant improvement. Methods for further improvement are also discussed.
Key Words: field robotics planetary rovers mobile robot navigation localization
The International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 18, No. 7,
669-683 (1999) |
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