Swarm exploration on Mars
The project Valles Marineris Explorer (VaMEx) – Cooperative Swarm Navigation, Mission and Control (CoSMiC) investigates innovative approaches for infrastructure-less navigation and exploration for highly automated heterogeneous robotic swarms exploring Valles Marineris on Mars. Resulting technologies are key enablers to explore the largest valley in our solar system which is possibly a refuge for extraterrestrial life.
Goals
Rapid automated, infrastructure-less navigation and exploration in difficult terrain
Key Issues
Along the Martian equator, the Valles Marineris extends over 4,000 kilometers with a depth of 7 kilometer. It is the largest valley in the solar system and possibly a refuge for extraterrestrial life. Only a versatile robotic swarm capable of intelligent, infrastructure-less navigation can explore the slopes, gorges, canyons, and caves in the Valles Marineris to search for extraterrestrial life. It is faster, more reliable, diverse, flexible, upgradeable, and cost effective than a single highly flexible, but also expensive robotic or crewed mission. Hence, VaMEx-CoSMiC develops highly innovative infrastructure-less navigation and exploration technologies for automated, heterogeneous, and versatile robotic swarm exploration missions:
The Institute of Communication and Navigation of DLR contributes in VaMEx-CoSMiC to the development of:
Partners
Institute of Flight Guidance, TU Braunschweig (Technical Coordinator) Institutes of Flight Systems Dynamics and for Communications and Navigation, TU Munich Institute of Communication and Navigation, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen
This project is part of the VaMEx initiative funded by the DLR Space Administration.
Duration
01.09.2015 - 31.08.2018
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