Brief description
ATON is a project to develop an optical navigation system for autonomous landings on celestial bodies.
Project description
The goals of future exploration missions include installing and supplying human outposts and exploring local phenomena on moons, planets and asteroids. An important pre-condition for the success of those missions is the capability to land autonomously, precisely and safely on celestial bodies.
To achieve that requirement future landing missions will be equipped with adept navigation technology. One important component will be optical imaging systems, which allow low-latency measurements to be taken independently from Earth, enabling autonomy. Integrating optical measurements into the navigation system provides position and attitude determination with respect to the target body allowing a precise autonomous landing. The optical sensor data can also be used to analyze and select a safe landing site.
ATON is a significant step towards autonomous landing systems. It will concentrate on developing breadboard hardware for optical navigation systems to safely and precisely land on the Moon. The aim of the project is to develop and demonstrate an optical navigation system applicable to all phases of lunar landing. The system will combine optical measurements with data from other onboard sensors (inertial measurement unit, star tracker and Lidar) provide an integrated and robust navigation solution and evaluate the landing site.
At the end of the three year project, laboratory tests will demonstrate the functionality, robustness and accuracy of the system in dynamic operation.
DLR Simulation and Software Technology Tasks
The contributions of the DLR Simulation and Software Technology include analysis, system definition, and development of a simulation environment. Furthermore, integration of system components and the development of a testing infrastructure also belong to the area of responsibility.
Project partners
Project runtime
01.01.2010 – 31.12.2012