Robots
One page per robotic system: manipulators, rovers, landers with deployable sampling hardware, free-flyers, legged and hopping machines, and rotorcraft. Each page records what the machine masses, how it moves, what powers it, how it is commanded, and what it achieved or failed to achieve in operation, with the measurement conditions attached to every number. Flown hardware, canceled flight builds and development prototypes are all covered, and each page states which of those the machine is.
The grouping is by operating environment rather than by mechanism or by agency, because the environment fixes the constraints the design answers to: gravity, thermal range, communication delay, surface mechanics and radiation. Destination values are settled once on the environments pages and cited from here. Where a system’s control approach or avionics is the subject rather than the vehicle, it is on the software and avionics pages.
The six groups
Section titled “The six groups”- Microgravity and orbital. The base a manipulator works from is not fixed: the ETS-VII arm masses about 140 kg on a 2550 kg spacecraft, so arm motion moves the base and the attitude controller’s response feeds back into the arm [1]. The second constraint is delay, 6 to 7 s round trip through the relay satellite on that mission [2]. The group covers manipulators on stations and on free-flying spacecraft, satellite servicers, debris removal demonstrators and intravehicular free-flyers: the Shuttle and station arm line from Canadarm through Canadarm2, Dextre, JEMRMS, the European Robotic Arm and CSSRMS; the servicing demonstrations ETS-VII, Orbital Express, RRM, OSAM-1 and the MEV vehicles; the capture demonstrators ELSA-d, ADRAS-J and ClearSpace-1; the humanoids Rollin’ Justin, FEDOR and Robonaut 2; and the free-flyers SPHERES, Astrobee, Int-Ball and CIMON.
- Lunar surface. The largest group, spanning the Soviet and Apollo record (the Lunokhod 1 and Lunokhod 2 rovers, the Luna sample return drills, the Surveyor scoop and the Apollo LRV), the Chinese and Indian surface missions (Yutu, Yutu-2, the Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 samplers, Pragyan), the current commercial-lander microrovers (MAPP, Iris, CubeRover, YAOKI, SORA-Q, LEV-1, Rashid, TENACIOUS, AstroAnt, Colmena, Micro-Nova, FLIP and FLEX), and the excavation, drilling and mobility development line (RASSOR, Scarab, ATHLETE, MoonRanger, CADRE, Asagumo, TRIDENT, LISTER, PlanetVac, SAMPLR, the Infrastructure Pilot Excavator, the Canadian Lunar Rover, the Lunar Vertex rover and VIPER). Survival across the lunar night, rather than driving, is what has historically bounded a mission: Lunokhod 1 was designed for three lunar days and operated eleven [3].
- Martian surface. Sojourner masses 10.6 kg, was planned for seven sols and returned data for 83 [4]. Ingenuity was designed for five test flights and completed 72 [5], spread from April 2021 to January 2024 [6]. The group holds the rover line Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Perseverance, Zhurong and Rosalind Franklin; the lander arms and subsurface hardware of Viking, the Beagle 2 PAW, Phoenix and InSight, including the HP3 mole; and the rotorcraft Ingenuity with the canceled Sample Fetch Rover and recovery helicopters.
- Small bodies. Landers, hoppers and sampling mechanisms: Philae, MINERVA, the Hayabusa2 landers, the MMX rover IDEFIX and the touch-and-go sampler TAGSAM. Holding the lander down at contact is the recurring problem. Philae’s anchoring harpoons did not fire and its hold-down thruster gas tank did not open, so the lander bounced away from Agilkia on an almost two-hour hopping tour, and at the resting site the solar cells could not generate enough power to continue once the batteries were exhausted [7].
- Outer planets. Three entries: the Galileo Probe, Huygens, which reached the surface of Titan and was still moving in the seconds after first contact [8], and Dragonfly, a rotorcraft for the same body.
- Extreme environments. The Venera and VeGa landers are the only machines that have worked on the surface of Venus. Nine of the fourteen Soviet landers reached the surface and survived between 23 and 127 minutes before their electronics failed [9], which is the whole flight record of Venus surface operation.
Families of approach
Section titled “Families of approach”Arms on a moving base. A manipulator on a free-flying spacecraft has no fixed frame: with no external force the system center of mass is inertially fixed, and the virtual-manipulator formulation uses that point as the ground so that free-floating kinematics reduce to fixed-base kinematics [26]. That result is analytical and simulated only; no hardware was built for it [26]. The flown record is the Shuttle and station arm line and ETS-VII, whose national program context and dropped experiment concepts, such as tumbling-satellite retrieval, are recorded in [28]. Verification of reused arm hardware, the practical problem behind heritage claims, is treated for the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator in [29]. NASA’s 2025 servicing catalog lists current in-space manipulators, including the Core Module Manipulator and Experimental Module Manipulator, as brief entries without their own sources [27].
Wheeled rovers. The flown line runs from Sojourner to Perseverance. Sojourner is given as an 11.0 kg mobile system on a six-wheel rocker-bogie with four steerable wheels, and the same wall serves as load path, insulation and EMI shield [12]; the mass of 10.6 kg is from [4], and the two sources differ. Only Sojourner of the rovers in [12] flew; the Lightweight Survivable Rover, Sample Return Rover and FIDO were prototypes [12]. FIDO was exercised in a 2001 field trial that simulated 20 sols of MER-A operations over 10 days in the Mojave Desert with blind remote science operations; it is not a 1:1 analog of the flown rover and the trial was not repeated [13]. A seven-year telemetry account of Curiosity reports 21,318.5 m over 738 attempted drives, with visual odometry converging in 20,588 of 20,682 attempts [14]. Thermal design reached the same conclusion on Spirit and Opportunity: flight ran warmer than the worst-cold ground test [30].
Autonomy of driving. A JPL briefing compiled from mission logs reports that Perseverance drove 88.74 percent of its distance under AutoNav, guarded or mapping modes against 6.12 percent for Curiosity, as of sol 753 for Perseverance [10]. The same deck records a 348 m single-sol drive, against the 219 m Opportunity record set in 2005 [10]. Perseverance operations later adjusted wheel design after Curiosity wear and changed Autonav limits after steep sandy terrain [15]. The Zhurong row in [10] is inferred from two months of published data and is not comparable with the others.
Arms and excavators on landers and rovers. The Phoenix arm, 4 DOF and 2.4 m, ran 53 dig sequences across 10 trenching areas and delivered 18 samples over more than 150 sols, and found indurated icy layers between about 3 and 10 cm depth by torque and motion impediment rather than by a force measurement [16]. Excavation moves from sampling to bulk regolith in the RASSOR line: a 66 kg vehicle whose counter-rotating bucket drums cancel horizontal reaction force, so digging does not depend on traction, and an 80 kg regolith payload at TRL 4 [18]. The successor IPEx TRL-5 design uses one actuator design in the wheel, arm and bucket drum roles; its arm and drum qualification results are preliminary [19]. The design loads for any lunar surface machine rest on a 1991 synthesis of six Apollo and three Luna sites, which gives a top-15 cm bulk density of 1.50 +/- 0.05 g/cm3 and contains no polar measurement [17].
Hopping, legged and small-body mobility. Low gravity makes a ballistic hop energetically competitive with rolling; the founding analysis for crewed hoppers was analytical, with no hardware built [20]. The control decomposition most hoppers use descends from a one-legged machine that balanced on a laboratory floor at 1 g [21], and nothing in that report addresses regolith or low gravity [21]. The MUSES-CN nanorover (about 1.3 kg, four posable struts with wheels) was designed to ride a sample-return spacecraft to an asteroid and was never flown by that mission [22]; its posable-strut chassis, in which the wheel motors also actuate the struts, is described in [23]. Legged lunar concepts raise a power problem wheels do not: the LunarLeaper study puts peak walking dissipation at 164 W for a 32 kg design, from estimates rather than measurements of a built robot [24]. A quadruped gait adaptation fell once per 133.5 m against once per 6.1 m for a fixed gait on one volcanic trial, which is a single run on Earth [25].
Free-flyers. Astrobee, a free-flying ISS robot of about 10 kg and a maximum speed of about 2.1 m/s, was commissioned at its dock in February 2019 [31]. Through May 2025 it completed over 165 real-time operations sessions, and the Bumble unit logged 135 on-orbit sessions with no hardware problems, and over 90 Guest Science sessions followed commissioning [31].
Rover mobility development. Ground-tested wheel and suspension concepts have not flown. A terrain-adaptive grouser wheel with 0 to 17.5 mm grouser height cut slip by 30.0 to 58.0 percent against fixed baselines on a linear gantry [35]. The 75 kg ERNEST rover concept with an actively articulated suspension and a learned controller measured a cost of transport of 13.4 on a 20 degree dry sand slope against 21.3 for the passive bogie [33]; in wet sand the passive configuration was fully immobilized [33]. A one-tonne rover running lidar teach and repeat carried cargo over a 164.2 m taught route in a two-week analog deployment; autonomous repeat took one eighth of the semi-autonomous teach time [36], and the habitat alignment requirement was missed by 0.17 m against 0.15 m [36].
Landing hazard detection and drilling. The SPLICE hazard detection software, tested on helicopter-flown lidar maps and not yet flown to the Moon, reached true positive rates of 50 to 70 percent at operational downsampling [37]. The TRIDENT engineering unit drilled fifteen boreholes in an Antarctic field campaign, and its percussive spring failed on the second day of operation [32].
Rotorcraft. Ingenuity is the only flown aircraft on another planet, and its flight dynamics were identified in flight on flights 68 and 69; roll control derivatives matched the pre-flight model within the Cramer-Rao bounds, while low-frequency angle of attack terms did not [5]. Dragonfly, the Sample Fetch recovery helicopters and the Skyfall concept have not flown [15].
What is not established
Section titled “What is not established”Across the six NASA Mars surface missions 48 major anomalies, each four or more consecutive sols of lost progress, have been cataloged [34]. Holding force at contact on small bodies is not resolved: the cause of the Philae harpoon failure is listed as unknown [7]. Lunar polar regolith has not been measured by the sources that fix surface design loads [17]. Low-gravity hopping and legged locomotion are demonstrated only analytically, in simulation or on Earth [20] [21] [25]. Autonomy statistics are snapshots from briefing decks, with undefined per-mission computation [10]. The Spirit sol 18 anomaly was a flash file system directory growth that exceeded its mount allocation, repaired by deleting cruise directories on sol 27; the source is a briefing and omits capacities [11]. Ingenuity’s low-frequency model discrepancy is not resolved between disturbance bias and a modeling error [5].
References
- Yoshida, K. (2003). Engineering Test Satellite VII Flight Experiments for Space Robot Dynamics and Control: Theories on Laboratory Test Beds Ten Years Ago, Now in Orbit
. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 5. Source
BibTeX
@article{yoshida2003engineering, title = {Engineering Test Satellite VII Flight Experiments for Space Robot Dynamics and Control: Theories on Laboratory Test Beds Ten Years Ago, Now in Orbit}, author = {Yoshida, Kazuya}, journal = {The International Journal of Robotics Research}, volume = {22}, number = {5}, pages = {321--335}, year = {2003}, doi = {10.1177/0278364903022005003}, abstract = {The Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-VII), an unmanned spacecraft equipped with a 2-m long, six-degree-of-freedom manipulator arm, was developed and launched by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). ETS-VII has successfully carried out a variety of on-board experiments with its manipulator arm, and these key technologies are essential for an orbital free-flying robot. These results will provide a solid basis for future satellite servicing missions. This paper highlights manipulator control utilizing the concepts of the generalized Jacobian matrix and the reaction null-space. These concepts have been proposed and discussed for the past ten years using laboratory test beds, and their practical application has now been demonstrated in orbit.} } - Imaida, T., Yokokohji, Y., Doi, T., Oda, M. and Yoshikawa, T. (2003). Ground-Space Teleoperation of a Robot Arm Mounted on Engineering Test Satellite No. VII by Direct Bilateral Coupling under a Long Time Delay Condition
. Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan, 3. Source
BibTeX
@article{imaida2003groundb, title = {Ground-Space Teleoperation of a Robot Arm Mounted on Engineering Test Satellite No. VII by Direct Bilateral Coupling under a Long Time Delay Condition}, author = {Imaida, Takashi and Yokokohji, Yasuyoshi and Doi, Toshitsugu and Oda, Mitsushige and Yoshikawa, Tsuneo}, journal = {Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan}, volume = {21}, number = {3}, pages = {309--320}, year = {2003}, doi = {10.7210/jrsj.21.309}, abstract = {A bilateral teleoperation experiment with Engineering Test Satellite No.VII (ETS-VII) was conducted on November 22, 1999. Round-trip time for communication between the NASDA ground station and ETS-VII was approximately six to seven seconds. We constructed a bilateral teleoperator that is stable even under such a long time delay. Several experiments, such as slope tracing task and peg-in-hole task, were carried out. Task performance was compared between bilateral mode and unilateral mode with force telemetry data visually displayed on a screen. All tasks were possible by bilateral control without any visual information. Experimental results showed that kinesthetic force feedback to the operator is helpful even under such long time delay and improves the performance of the task.} } - Siddiqi, A. A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016
. NASA, NASA SP-2018-4041. Source
BibTeX
@book{siddiqi2018beyond, title = {Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016}, author = {Siddiqi, Asif A.}, number = {NASA SP-2018-4041}, publisher = {NASA}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf} } - Keith, T. G. and Siebert, M. W. (1998). Mars Pathfinder Wheel Abrasion Experiment Ground Test, and Mars Pathfinder Final Technical Report
. NASA Lewis Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Source
BibTeX
@techreport{keith1998mars, title = {Mars Pathfinder Wheel Abrasion Experiment Ground Test, and Mars Pathfinder Final Technical Report}, author = {Keith, Theo G. and Siebert, Mark W.}, institution = {NASA Lewis Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory}, year = {1998}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19990013984}, abstract = {The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent a mission to the martian surface, called Mars Pathfinder. The mission payload consisted of a lander and a rover. The primary purpose of the mission was demonstrating a novel entry, descent, and landing method that included a heat shield, a parachute, rockets, and a cocoon of giant air bags. Once on the surface, the spacecraft returned temperature measurements near the Martian surface, atmosphere pressure, wind speed measurements, and images from the lander and rover. The rover obtained 16 elemental measurements of rocks and soils, performed soil-mechanics, atmospheric sedimentation measurements, and soil abrasiveness measurements.} } - Aagren, T. S., Ruan, A. W., Malpica, C., Withrow-Maser, S. and Meyn, L. (2025). In-flight System Identification of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
. AIAA SCITECH Forum, 20240014856. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{aagren2025flight, title = {In-flight System Identification of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter}, author = {Aagren, Tove S. and Ruan, Allen W. and Malpica, Carlos and Withrow-Maser, Shannah and Meyn, Larry}, booktitle = {AIAA SCITECH Forum}, number = {20240014856}, institution = {NASA}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.2514/6.2025-0007}, abstract = {The 68th and 69th flights of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter marked the first dedicated system identification flights of an aerial vehicle on another planet. Chirp signals were injected into the swashplate cyclic controls for both legs of the two out-and-back flights. Frequency responses were computed from the flight data, using both the Direct Method (DM) and the Joint-Input-Output (JIO) approach, for the identification of stability and control derivatives in forward flight conditions. The resulting identified state-space models were compared against existing flight dynamics simulation models, showing excellent correlation in the higher frequency range. External disturbances were seen to introduce a bias in the identified lower frequency responses, which was partially mitigated using the JIO method. These findings will inform future modeling and flight testing efforts of Mars rotorcraft.} } - Roumage, G., Azaiez, S., Faure, C. and Louise, S. (2025). The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Specified and Analyzed with the Real-time Mode-aware Dataflow Model
. arXiv preprint. Source
BibTeX
@article{roumage2025ingenuity, title = {The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Specified and Analyzed with the Real-time Mode-aware Dataflow Model}, author = {Roumage, Guillaume and Azaiez, Selma and Faure, Cyril and Louise, Stéphane}, journal = {arXiv preprint}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.32388/zn8rvc}, abstract = {Ingenuity is an autonomous Cyber-Pysical System (CPS) that has successfully completed more than 70 flights over Mars between 2021 and 2024. Ensuring the safety of its mission is paramount, as any failure could result in catastrophic economic damage and significant financial losses. Dataflow Models of Computation and Communication (DF MoCCs) serve as a formal framework for specifying and analyzing the timing behavior of such CPSs. In particular, the Real-time Mode-aware Dataflow (RMDF) model is highly suitable to specify and analyze real-time and mode-dependent CPSs like Ingenuity. This paper showcases the application of RMDF for the specification and analysis of Ingenuity. We propose a dataflow specification of Ingenuity, analyze its timing behavior, and provide a feasibility test. Finally, we proposed a plausible explanation of the timing anomaly that occurred during the sixth flight of Ingenuity.} } - Boehnhardt, H., Bibring, J.-P., Apathy, I., Auster, H.-U., Ercoli Finzi, A., Goesmann, F., Klingelhöfer, G., Knapmeyer, M., Kofman, W., Krüger, H., Mottola, S., Schmidt, W., Seidensticker, K. J., Spohn, T. and Wright, I. P. (2017). The Philae lander mission and science overview
. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. Source
BibTeX
@article{boehnhardt2017philae, title = {The Philae lander mission and science overview}, author = {Boehnhardt, H. and Bibring, Jean-Pierre and Apathy, I. and Auster, Hans-Ulrich and Ercoli Finzi, A. and Goesmann, Fred and Klingelhöfer, G. and Knapmeyer, Martin and Kofman, Wlodek and Krüger, H. and Mottola, Stefano and Schmidt, Walter and Seidensticker, Klaus J. and Spohn, Tilman and Wright, Ian P.}, journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A}, volume = {375}, pages = {20160248}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.1098/rsta.2016.0248}, abstract = {The Philae lander accomplished the first soft landing and the first scientific experiments of a human-made spacecraft on the surface of a comet. Planned, expected and unexpected activities and events happened during the descent, the touch-downs, the hopping across and the stay and operations on the surface. The key results were obtained during 12–14 November 2014, at 3 AU from the Sun, during the 63 h long period of the descent and of the first science sequence on the surface. Thereafter, Philae went into hibernation, waking up again in late April 2015 with subsequent communication periods with Earth (via the orbiter), too short to enable new scientific activities. The science return of the mission comes from eight of the 10 instruments on-board and focuses on morphological, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the surface as well as on the surface composition. It allows a first characterization of the local environment of the touch-down and landing sites. Unique conclusions on the organics in the cometary material, the nucleus interior, the comet formation and evolution became available through measurements of the Philae lander in the context of the Rosetta mission. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Cometary science after Rosetta’.} } - Schröder, S. E., Karkoschka, E. and Lorenz, R. D. (2012). Bouncing on Titan: Motion of the Huygens Probe in the Seconds After Landing
. Planetary and Space Science, 1. Source
BibTeX
@article{schroder2012bouncing, title = {Bouncing on Titan: Motion of the Huygens Probe in the Seconds After Landing}, author = {Schröder, Stefan E. and Karkoschka, Erich and Lorenz, Ralph D.}, journal = {Planetary and Space Science}, volume = {73}, number = {1}, pages = {327--340}, year = {2012}, doi = {10.1016/j.pss.2012.08.007} } - Sauder, J., Hilgemann, E., Johnson, M., Parness, A., Bienstock, B., Hall, J., Kawata, J. and Stack, K. (2017). Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments
. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 20170002798. Source
BibTeX
@techreport{sauder2017automaton, title = {Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments}, author = {Sauder, Jonathan and Hilgemann, Evan and Johnson, Michael and Parness, Aaron and Bienstock, Bernie and Hall, Jeffery and Kawata, Jessie and Stack, Kathryn}, number = {20170002798}, institution = {NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory}, year = {2017}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20170002798}, abstract = {Almost 2,300 years ago the ancient Greeks built the Antikythera automaton. This purely mechanical computer accurately predicted past and future astronomical events long before electronics existed1. Automata have been credibly used for hundreds of years as computers, art pieces, and clocks. However, in the past several decades automata have become less popular as the capabilities of electronics increased, leaving them an unexplored solution for robotic spacecraft. The Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) proposes an exciting paradigm shift from electronics to a fully mechanical system, enabling longitudinal exploration of the most extreme environments within the solar system. } } - Verma, V. (2023). Exploring sustainable frontiers: NASA’s groundbreaking robotics advances for space exploration
. Root. doi.org/10.48577/jpl.p1roct
BibTeX
@misc{verma2023exploring, title = {Exploring sustainable frontiers: NASA’s groundbreaking robotics advances for space exploration}, author = {Verma, Vandi}, journal = {Root}, year = {2023}, doi = {10.48577/jpl.p1roct}, abstract = {No abstract available.} } - Adler. (2004). Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Sol 18 anomaly
. American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20070038985
BibTeX
@misc{adler2004mars, title = {Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Sol 18 anomaly}, author = {Adler}, journal = {American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics}, year = {2004}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20070038985}, abstract = {The contents include: 1) Discovery; 2) Determination of Vehicle State; 3) Regaining Control of the Vehicle; 4) Diagnosis; 5) Repair and Restoration of Normal Operations; 6) Follow-up Mitigations; and 7) Lessons Learned} } - Hickey, G. S., Sword, L. and Schenker, P. (1997). Structural Design Challenges for Mars Rovers
. Conference. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{hickey1997structural, title = {Structural Design Challenges for Mars Rovers}, author = {Hickey, Gregory S. and Sword, Lee and Schenker, Paul}, booktitle = {Conference}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, year = {1997}, url = {https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:2014/22786} } - Tunstel, E., Huntsberger, T., Aghazarian, H., Backes, P., Baumgartner, E., Cheng, Y., Garrett, M., Kennedy, B., Leger, C., Magnone, L., Norris, J., Powell, M., Trebi-Ollennu, A. and Schenker, P. (2002). FIDO Rover field trials as rehearsal for the NASA 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission
. Biannual World Automation Congress. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{tunstel2002fido, title = {FIDO Rover field trials as rehearsal for the NASA 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission}, author = {Tunstel, E. and Huntsberger, T. and Aghazarian, H. and Backes, P. and Baumgartner, E. and Cheng, Y. and Garrett, M. and Kennedy, B. and Leger, C. and Magnone, L. and Norris, J. and Powell, M. and Trebi-Ollennu, A. and Schenker, P.}, booktitle = {Biannual World Automation Congress}, pages = {320-327}, year = {2002}, doi = {10.1109/wac.2002.1049460}, abstract = {This paper describes recent extended field trials performed using the FIDO (Field Integrated Design & Operations) rover, an advanced NASA technology development platform and research prototype for the next planned rover mission to Mars. Realistic physical simulation of the NASA 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission was achieved through collaborative efforts of roboticists, planetary scientists, and mission operations personnel. An overview of the objectives, approach, and results is reported.} } - Rankin, A., Maimone, M., Biesiadecki, J., Patel, N., Levine, D. and Toupet, O. (2021). Mars Curiosity Rover Mobility Trends During the First Seven Years
. Journal of Field Robotics, 5. Source
BibTeX
@article{rankin2021mars, title = {Mars Curiosity Rover Mobility Trends During the First Seven Years}, author = {Rankin, Arturo and Maimone, Mark and Biesiadecki, Jeffrey and Patel, Nikunj and Levine, Dan and Toupet, Olivier}, journal = {Journal of Field Robotics}, volume = {38}, number = {5}, pages = {759--800}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.1002/rob.22011}, abstract = {Abstract NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. In the 7 years between landing and August 6, 2019 (sol 2488), Curiosity has driven 21,318.5 m over a variety of terrain types and slopes, employing multiple drive modes with varying amounts of onboard autonomy. Curiosity's drive distances each sol have ranged from its shortest drive of 2.6 cm to its longest drive of 142.5 m, with an average drive distance of 28.9 m. Real‐time human intervention is not possible during Curiosity's drives due to the latency in uplinking commands and downlinking telemetry. Instead, the operations team relies on Curiosity's fault protection, autonomous navigation, and visual odometry software to keep the rover safe during drives. During its first 7 years on Mars, Curiosity has attempted 738 drives. While 622 drives ran to completion, 116 drives were prevented or stopped early by Curiosity's fault protection software. The primary risks to mobility success have been wheel damage, wheel entrapment, progressive wheel sinkage, and the potential for hardware or cable failures that result in an inability to command one or more steer or drive actuators. In this paper, we describe Curiosity's mobility subsystem, mobility trends over the first 21.3 km of the mission, operational aspects of mobility fault protection, risks to continued mobility success, and risk mitigation strategies.} } - Verma, V. (2026). Hardware and Autonomous Space Robots: Physical AI, Mechanical Limits, and the Lessons of Deep Space
. Root. doi.org/10.48577/jpl.gu2xok
BibTeX
@misc{verma2026hardware, title = {Hardware and Autonomous Space Robots: Physical AI, Mechanical Limits, and the Lessons of Deep Space}, author = {Verma, Vandi}, journal = {Root}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.48577/jpl.gu2xok}, abstract = {No abstract available.} } - Bonitz, R., Shiraishi, L., Robinson, M., Carsten, J., Volpe, R., Trebi-Ollennu, A., Arvidson, R. E., Chu, P. C., Wilson, J. J. and Davis, K. R. (2009). The Phoenix Mars Lander Robotic Arm
. IEEE Aerospace Conference. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{bonitz2009phoenix, title = {The Phoenix Mars Lander Robotic Arm}, author = {Bonitz, Robert and Shiraishi, Lori and Robinson, Matthew and Carsten, Joseph and Volpe, Richard and Trebi-Ollennu, Ashitey and Arvidson, Raymond E. and Chu, P. C. and Wilson, J. J. and Davis, K. R.}, booktitle = {IEEE Aerospace Conference}, pages = {1-12}, organization = {Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology}, address = {Big Sky, Montana}, year = {2009}, doi = {10.1109/aero.2009.4839306}, abstract = {The Phoenix Mars Lander Robotic Arm (RA) has operated for 149 sols since the Lander touched down on the north polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. During its mission it has dug numerous trenches in the Martian regolith, acquired samples of Martian dry and icy soil, and delivered them to the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA). The RA inserted the Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) into the Martian regolith and positioned it at various heights above the surface for relative humidity measurements. The RA was used to point the Robotic Arm Camera to take images of the surface, trenches, samples within the scoop, and other objects of scientific interest within its workspace. Data from the RA sensors during trenching, scraping, and trench cave-in experiments have been used to infer mechanical properties of the Martian soil. This paper describes the design and operations of the RA as a critical component of the Phoenix Mars Lander necessary to achieve the scientific goals of the mission.} } - Heiken, G. H., Vaniman, D. T. and French, B. M. (1991). Lunar Sourcebook: A User's Guide to the Moon
. Endeavour. Source
BibTeX
@book{heiken1991lunar, title = {Lunar Sourcebook: A User's Guide to the Moon}, author = {Heiken, Grant H. and Vaniman, David T. and French, Bevan M.}, journal = {Endeavour}, volume = {16}, pages = {96}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {1991}, doi = {10.1016/0160-9327(92)90014-g} } - Mueller, R. P., Smith, J. D., Schuler, J. M., Nick, A. J., Gelino, N. J., Leucht, K. W., Townsend, I. I. and Dokos, A. G. (2016). Design of an Excavation Robot: Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) 2.0
. ASCE Earth and Space Conference, 20210011366. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{mueller2016design, title = {Design of an Excavation Robot: Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) 2.0}, author = {Mueller, Robert P. and Smith, Jonathan D. and Schuler, Jason M. and Nick, Andrew J. and Gelino, Nathan J. and Leucht, Kurt W. and Townsend, Ivan I. and Dokos, Adam G.}, booktitle = {ASCE Earth and Space Conference}, number = {20210011366}, pages = {163-174}, institution = {NASA}, year = {2016}, doi = {10.1061/9780784479971.018}, abstract = {To continue on a sustainable and flexible path, NASA needs to address the challenge of collecting and moving large amounts of regolith at the destination. Acquiring the water resources on Mars will require mining significant quantities of regolith, and this is not possible with the state-of-the-art low mass excavation systems. Low gravity environments (Mars = 3/8G) and launch mass restrictions limit the traction and the resulting reaction force of the vehicle, making current terrestrial techniques impractical. This project addressed this challenge by developing a completely new technology that can mine large quantities of regolith on Mars. Recent measurements by the “Curiosity” rover on Mars have found that the regolith contains ~2% water by weight globally, ~4% in Jezero Crater (Human Architecture Team’s reference landing site), and much more at the poles. RASSOR 2.0 is a planetary excavator, which has a mass of 66 kg, with a 0.38 kg vehicle mass per kilogram, per hour of excavation rate and power usage of 4 W per kg of regolith excavation rate. A single RASSOR 2.0 can excavate a minimum of 2.7 metric tons of regolith per day. This is accomplished by using counteracting excavation forces on two opposing digging implements called bucket drums and an autonomous mining control system. This work has addressed several major research areas outlined in the NASA Technology Area (TA) 04 Robotics and Autonomous Systems and TA 07 Human Destination Systems roadmaps. This project started at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 as a low fidelity “proof of concept” prototype which has successfully demonstrated basic regolith simulant excavation functionality in a lab-scale gravity off load test. The foundational technology described here was awarded US patent number: US 9027265 for a “Zero horizontal reaction force excavator” on May 12, 2015.} } - Schuler, J. M., Smith, J. D., Nick, A. J., Buckles, B. C., Dyas, J. E., Ortega, V. V., Cloud, J. M., Dokos, A. G., Zhang, E. L., Wang, J. J., Baron, M. A., Muller, T. J., Clark, C. J. and Howe, M. W. (2024). ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) Technology Readiness Level 5 Design Overview
. AIAA AVIATION Forum and ASCEND, 20240008162. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{schuler2024isru, title = {ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) Technology Readiness Level 5 Design Overview}, author = {Schuler, Jason M. and Smith, Jonathan D. and Nick, Andrew J. and Buckles, Bradley C. and Dyas, Jeffrey E. and Ortega, Victoria V. and Cloud, Joseph M. and Dokos, Adam G. and Zhang, Elizabeth L. and Wang, Jerry J. and Baron, Michael A. and Muller, Thomas J. and Clark, Casey J. and Howe, Musashi W.}, booktitle = {AIAA AVIATION Forum and ASCEND}, number = {20240008162}, institution = {NASA}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.2514/6.2024-4890}, abstract = {This paper details the mechanical and mechatronic design of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-5 In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Pilot Excavator (IPEx). IPEx is a robotic excavator designed for a technology demonstration of regolith mining in the lunar south pole region. The novel design uses pairs of counter-acting excavation tools called bucket drums, that dig at the same time in opposing directions to reduce the reaction force needed, thereby enabling mining with a small, low-mass, robotic system. IPEx builds on the prior work of the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), which is the TRL-4 implementation of this concept. The TRL-5 IPEx subsystems that are discussed in this paper include: Regolith Delivery Subsystem (RDS), Mobility Subsystem (MS), Cameras and Dust Mitigation Subsystem (CDMS), and Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS). Each subsystem is described in detail with rationale for design selections. Dust tolerance is a key feature for IPEx, and this paper details a thermal control system with an actuated radiator cover and phase change material as well as camera modules with removable electrodynamic dust shields (EDS). Additional components such as actuators, wheels, and bucket drums are discussed in detail. Due to their complexity, the avionics and software subsystems will be discussed in a separate publication.} } - Kaplan, M. H. and Seifert, H. S. (1968). Investigation of a Hopping Transporter Concept for Lunar Exploration
. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, SUDAAR No. 348. Source
BibTeX
@techreport{kaplan1968investigation, title = {Investigation of a Hopping Transporter Concept for Lunar Exploration}, author = {Kaplan, Marshall H. and Seifert, Howard S.}, number = {SUDAAR No. 348}, institution = {Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University}, year = {1968}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19680020292}, abstract = {Performance and dynamic characteristics determined for hopping transporter for lunar exploration} } - Raibert, M. H., Brown, H. B., Chepponis, M., Hastings, E., Koechling, J., Murphy, K. N., Murthy, S. S. and Stentz, A. (1983). Dynamically Stable Legged Locomotion
. The Robotics Institute, Carnegie-Mellon University, CMU-RI-TR-83-20. Source
BibTeX
@techreport{raibert1983dynamically, title = {Dynamically Stable Legged Locomotion}, author = {Raibert, Marc H. and Brown, H. Benjamin and Chepponis, Michael and Hastings, Eugene and Koechling, Jeff and Murphy, Karl N. and Murthy, Seshashayee S. and Stentz, Anthony}, number = {CMU-RI-TR-83-20}, institution = {The Robotics Institute, Carnegie-Mellon University}, year = {1983}, url = {https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA136644} } - Wilcox, B. and Jones, R. (1999). The MUSES-CN Nanorover Mission and Related Technology
. IEEE Aerospace Conference. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{wilcox1999muses, title = {The MUSES-CN Nanorover Mission and Related Technology}, author = {Wilcox, B. and Jones, R.}, booktitle = {IEEE Aerospace Conference}, volume = {7}, pages = {287-295}, year = {1999}, doi = {10.1109/aero.2000.879296}, abstract = {Recent advances in microtechnology and mobile robotics have made it feasible to create extremely small automated or remote-controlled vehicles which open new application frontiers. One of these possible applications is the use of nanorovers (robotic vehicles with a mass of order 1 kg or less) in planetary exploration. NASA and Japan's ISAS are cooperating on the first mission to collect samples from the surface of an asteroid and return them to Earth for in-depth study. The ISAS MUSES-C mission will be launched on a Japanese launch vehicle in July 2002 from Japan toward a redezvous with the asteroid 1989ML in September 2003. A NASA-provided nanorover will conduct in-situ measurements on the surface. Asteroid samples will be returned to Earth by MUSES-C via a parachute-borne recovery capsule in June 2006. This paper describes the rover being created for this mission and related technology developments.} } - Wilcox, B. H. and Welch, V. (1998). Embedded Control of a Miniature Science Rover for Planetary Exploration
. International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{wilcox1998embedded, title = {Embedded Control of a Miniature Science Rover for Planetary Exploration}, author = {Wilcox, Brian H. and Welch, V.}, booktitle = {International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, year = {1998}, url = {https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:2014/22984} } - Cocheril, A., Krasnova, E., Brändli, E., Mittelholz, A., Naire, R., Menet, R. and Paranjape, S. (2026). LunarLeaper, Supporting Early System Level Trade-offs with a Low-order Thermal Model, for a CubeSat-Sized Moon Mission
. International Conference on Environmental Systems. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{cocheril2026lunarleaper, title = {LunarLeaper, Supporting Early System Level Trade-offs with a Low-order Thermal Model, for a CubeSat-Sized Moon Mission}, author = {Cocheril, Aurélie and Krasnova, Elena and Brändli, Eric and Mittelholz, Anna and Naire, Raphaël and Menet, Raffaela and Paranjape, Sidharth}, booktitle = {International Conference on Environmental Systems}, publisher = {International Conference on Environmental Systems}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.32865/2346/109052}, abstract = {The ETH Zurich led LunarLeaper mission will make use of state-of-the-art robotic technologies to operate a CubeSat sized legged robot in the Moon’s equatorial regions. It will explore subsurface lava tubes, their suitability for human exploration or habitation and investigate the local and regional extent of the regolith. The paper describes the parametric system model implemented early in the project development to support early design trades and to stay within the budgets and potentially unlock more scientific return. The study focuses on the methodology combining a system level parametric study with simple EXCEL and MATLAB based thermal models considering in details the worst case environment. The outcome being the identification of a working concept used for the first engineering design loop and how a sequential injection of complexity supports the establishment of a technical baseline. A focus is placed on addressing the substantially higher power dissipation of legged systems, which, on average, is several times that of conventional rovers. This invalidates simple size-to-power scaling and calls for new thermal management solutions. A lot of additional trades can be made with a simple model if there are enough parameters and if the problematics are simplified enough. Some examples are presented as well in this study.} } - Stark, F., Kumar, R., Vyas, S., Isermann, H., Haack, J., Popescu, M., Middelberg, J., Mronga, D. and Kirchner, F. (2025). An adaptive hierarchical control framework for quadrupedal robots in planetary exploration
. arXiv. Source
BibTeX
@article{stark2025adaptive, title = {An adaptive hierarchical control framework for quadrupedal robots in planetary exploration}, author = {Stark, Franek and Kumar, Rohit and Vyas, Shubham and Isermann, Hannah and Haack, Jonas and Popescu, Mihaela and Middelberg, Jakob and Mronga, Dennis and Kirchner, Frank}, journal = {arXiv}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2510.17249}, abstract = {Planetary exploration missions require robots capable of navigating extreme and unknown environments. While wheeled rovers have dominated past missions, their mobility is limited to traversable surfaces. Legged robots, especially quadrupeds, can overcome these limitations by handling uneven, obstacle-rich, and deformable terrains. However, deploying such robots in unknown conditions is challenging due to the need for environment-specific control, which is infeasible when terrain and robot parameters are uncertain. This work presents a modular control framework that combines model-based dynamic control with online model adaptation and adaptive footstep planning to address uncertainties in both robot and terrain properties. The framework includes state estimation for quadrupeds with and without contact sensing, supports runtime reconfiguration, and is integrated into ROS 2 with open-source availability. Its performance was validated on two quadruped platforms, multiple hardware architectures, and in a volcano field test, where the robot walked over 700 m.} } - Dubowsky, S. and Vafa, Z. (1989). A Virtual Manipulator Model for Space Robotic Systems
. NASA Conference Publication: Space Telerobotics. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{dubowsky1989virtual, title = {A Virtual Manipulator Model for Space Robotic Systems}, author = {Dubowsky, Steven and Vafa, Z.}, booktitle = {NASA Conference Publication: Space Telerobotics}, pages = {335--344}, year = {1989}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19890017203}, abstract = {Future robotic manipulators carried by a spacecraft will be required to perform complex tasks in space, like repairing satellites. Such applications of robotic manipulators will encounter a number of kinematic, dynamic and control problems due to the dynamic coupling between the manipulators and the spacecraft. A new analytical modeling method for studying the kinematics and dynamics of manipulators in space is presented. The problem is treated by introducing the concept of a Virtual Manipulator (VM). The kinematic and dynamic motions of the manipulator, vehicle and payload, can be described relatively easily in terms of the Virtual Manipulator movements, which have a fixed base in inertial space at a point called a Virtual Ground. It is anticipated that the approach described here will aid in the design and development of future space manipulator systems.} } - Mulvaney, J., Arney, D., Williams, C., Morel, J., Stockdale, C., Whitlock, C. and Balaji, V. (2025). In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) State of Play, 2025 Edition
. NASA, 20250008988. Source
BibTeX
@techreport{nasa2025space, title = {In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) State of Play, 2025 Edition}, author = {Mulvaney, John and Arney, Dale and Williams, Christina and Morel, Jose and Stockdale, Christopher and Whitlock, Christopher and Balaji, Vishruth}, number = {20250008988}, institution = {NASA}, year = {2025}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20250008988}, abstract = {The future of spaceflight will yield increasingly more ambitious missions to support civil, national security, and commercial space sectors. Achieving some of these missions will not be feasible by launching an integrated, fully functioning system on a single launch vehicle. Future science and human exploration missions will require payloads that are larger than any foreseeable launch vehicle fairing, national security missions will require persistent assets that are mobile and resilient, and commercial space missions will require cost-effective ways to update to the latest technology on orbit. In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) can vastly expand the performance, availability, and lifetime of space systems compared to the traditional paradigm of launching an asset with no intent to ever interact with it again. ISAM capabilities foster an ecosystem that changes the space operations paradigm, creating the foundation for sustainable exploration and serving as a multiplier for other capabilities like space logistics, power generation, and reusability. Previous achievements in ISAM have enabled ambitious human and robotic space missions. The assembly, operation, and maintenance of NASA’s International Space Station (ISS); servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); and Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) demonstrate the dramatic operational missions that can be achieved using ISAM capabilities. Many current and upcoming flight demonstrations are advancing areas that will enable the next generation of civil, national security, and commercial space missions. This document describes the current state of ISAM missions, activities, and technologiesto the best ability of the authors. Compiling and organizing the available ISAM capabilities will help mission designers incorporate ISAM technologies into their concepts, create the starting point for technology development plans and roadmaps, and provide technologists a survey of the field they are developing. This document divides the ISAM capabilities into 11 functional capability areas that describe the functions or activities that can be performed in space using ISAM.} } - Ohkami, Y., Nakatani, I., Wakabayashi, Y. and Iwata, T. (1994). A Perspective on Space Robotics in Japan
. International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{ohkami1994perspective, title = {A Perspective on Space Robotics in Japan}, author = {Ohkami, Yoshiaki and Nakatani, Ichiro and Wakabayashi, Yasufumi and Iwata, Tsutomu}, booktitle = {International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space}, year = {1994}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19950017275}, abstract = {This report summarizes the research and development status and perspective on space robotics in Japan. The R & D status emphasizes the current on-going projects at NASDA including the JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) to be used on Space Station Freedom and the robotics experiments on Engineering Satellite 7 (ETS-7). As a future perspective, not only NASDA, but also ISAS and other government institutes have been promoting their own research in space robotics in order to support wide spread space activities in the future. Included in this future research is an autonomous satellite retrieval experiment, a dexterous robot experiment, an on-orbit servicing platform, an IVA robot, and several moon/planetary rovers proposed by NASDA or ISAS and other organizations.} } - Bassett, D. A. and Abramovici, A. (1999). Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Requirements Verification
. International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{bassett1999special, title = {Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Requirements Verification}, author = {Bassett, D. A. and Abramovici, A.}, booktitle = {International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space}, address = {ESTEC, Noordwijk}, year = {1999}, url = {http://robotics.estec.esa.int/i-SAIRAS/isairas1999/s02-02.pdf} } - Tsuyuki, Sunada, Novak, Kinsella and Phillip. (2005). Mars Exploration rover entry, descent, & landing: a thermal perspective
. Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{tsuyuki2005mars, title = {Mars Exploration rover entry, descent, & landing: a thermal perspective}, author = {Tsuyuki and Sunada and Novak and Kinsella and Phillip}, booktitle = {Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop}, year = {2005}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20090026396}, abstract = {Perhaps the most challenging mission phase for the Mars Exploration Rovers was the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL). During this phase, the entry vehicle attached to its cruise stage was transformed into a stowed tetrahedral Lander that was surrounded by inflated airbags through a series of complex events. There was only one opportunity to successfully execute an automated command sequence without any possible ground intervention. The success of EDL was reliant upon the system thermal design: 1) to thermally condition EDL hardware from cruise storage temperatures to operating temperature ranges; 2) to maintain the Rover electronics within operating temperature ranges without the benefit of the cruise single phase cooling loop, which had been evacuated in preparation for EDL; and 3) to maintain the cruise stage propulsion components for the critical turn to entry attitude. Since the EDL architecture was inherited from Mars Pathfinder (MPF), the initial EDL thermal design would be inherited from MPF. However, hardware and implementation differences from MPF ultimately changed the MPF inheritance approach for the EDL thermal design. With the lack of full inheritance, the verification and validation of the EDL thermal design took on increased significance. This paper will summarize the verification and validation approach for the EDL thermal design along with applicable system level thermal testing results as well as appropriate thermal analyses. In addition, the lessons learned during the system-level testing will be discussed. Finally, the in-flight EDL experiences of both MER-A and -B missions (Spirit and Opportunity, respectively) will be presented, demonstrated how lessons learned from Spirit were applied to Opportunity.} } - Alexandrov, O., Barlow, J., Benavides, J., Bualat, M., Carlino, R., Coltin, B., Cortez, J., Daley, E., Feller, J., Flückiger, L., Fong, T., Fusco, J., Garcia Ruiz, R., Hamilton, K., Kanis, S., Katterhagen, A., Kim, Y., Love, J. F., McIntyre, M., McLachlan, B., Mora Vargas, A., Moratto, Z., Moreira, M., Morse, T., Orosco, H., Park, I.-W., Provencher, C., Sanchez, H., Sharif, K., Smith, E., Smith, T., Soussan, R., Symington, A., Talavera, R. O., To, V., Wheeler, D. and Yoo, J. (2026). Astrobee: Free-Flying Robots for the International Space Station
. IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics. Source
BibTeX
@article{alexandrov2026astrobee, title = {Astrobee: Free-Flying Robots for the International Space Station}, author = {Alexandrov, Oleg and Barlow, Jonathan and Benavides, Jose and Bualat, Maria and Carlino, Roberto and Coltin, Brian and Cortez, Jose and Daley, Earl and Feller, Jeffrey and Flückiger, Lorenzo and Fong, Terrence and Fusco, Jesse and Garcia Ruiz, Ruben and Hamilton, Kathryn and Kanis, Simeon and Katterhagen, Aric and Kim, Yunkyung and Love, John F. and McIntyre, Michael and McLachlan, Blair and Mora Vargas, Andres and Moratto, Zack and Moreira, Marina and Morse, Theodore and Orosco, Henry and Park, In-Won and Provencher, Christopher and Sanchez, Hugo and Sharif, Khaled and Smith, Ernest and Smith, Trey and Soussan, Ryan and Symington, Andrew and Talavera, Rafael Omar and To, Vinh and Wheeler, DW and Yoo, Jongwoon}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics}, year = {2026}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20260001396}, abstract = {The Astrobees are free-flying robots that operate inside the International Space Station (ISS) and were launched to the ISS in 2019. Since then they have successfully performed hundreds of activities in space supporting almost two dozen separate research projects. The robots were designed to overcome multiple challenges unique to the ISS environment, including safety, upgradeability and maintainability, limited mass and computation, and unique localization challenges from lack of gravity and a constantly changing environment. This article provides an overview of Astrobee, from hardware and software design to deployment results and activities.} } - Boelter, S., Brown, G., Stucky, T., Temesgen, E., Mai, R., Weber, L., Gini, M., Bergman, D., Fortuin, C., Glass, B. and Wilhelm, M. (2026). TRIDENT Drill Performance and Subsurface Fault and Anomaly Detection in Antarctic Environments
. Annals of Glaciology. Source
BibTeX
@article{boelter2026trident, title = {TRIDENT Drill Performance and Subsurface Fault and Anomaly Detection in Antarctic Environments}, author = {Boelter, Sarah and Brown, Greta and Stucky, Thomas and Temesgen, Ebasa and Mai, Rene and Weber, Lucas and Gini, Maria and Bergman, Dean and Fortuin, Carter and Glass, Brian and Wilhelm, Marybeth}, journal = {Annals of Glaciology}, year = {2026}, url = {https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20260007172}, abstract = {The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT), a 1-meter rotary percussive drill developed by Honeybee Robotics, is designed for extraterrestrial subsurface exploration. Because extraterrestrial drilling cannot rely on prior subsurface characterization or direct human operation, adaptive state estimation and anomaly detection are necessary for reliable autonomous drilling. We evaluate TRIDENT’s drilling performance in planetary analog environments during fieldwork in Schirmacher Oasis and Lake Untersee, Antarctica, including cold-desert permafrost terrain, glacially smoothed rock, ice-covered surfaces, subsurface frozen boundary layers, and ice-rock transitions representative of planetary subsurfaces. This paper investigates subsurface fault and anomaly detection methods for planetary drilling with minimal prior training data while further characterizing TRIDENT’s operational performance across representative analog terrains.} } - Bouton, A., Hasseler, T. D. and Paton, M. (2026). Learning All-Terrain Locomotion for a Planetary Rover with Actively Articulated Suspension
. arXiv. Source
BibTeX
@article{bouton2026learning, title = {Learning All-Terrain Locomotion for a Planetary Rover with Actively Articulated Suspension}, author = {Bouton, Arthur and Hasseler, Tristan D. and Paton, Michael}, journal = {arXiv}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.06790}, abstract = {This paper presents ERNEST, a four-wheeled planetary rover concept equipped with a two-degree-of-freedom Active Gimbal Suspension that combines yaw and roll actuation to enable wheel reconfiguration, steering, and active load redistribution. A single neural network controller, trained to track a desired path across challenging terrain, fully unlocks the capabilities of this actuated suspension system for autonomous obstacle negotiation. A reinforcement learning framework is developed using the high-fidelity DARTS simulation engine, which combines rigid-contact dynamics and Bekker-Wong terramechanics, enabling the emergence of locomotion strategies adapted to loose-soil conditions. To obtain a single unified controller across heterogeneous terrains, a policy consolidation strategy merges the experience of terrain-specialized agents into one neural network, eliminating the need for explicit terrain classification and controller switching. The resulting controller operates on a combination of proprioceptive and exteroceptive feedback, including sparse stereo-derived terrain elevation, chassis attitude, joint states, and force-torque measurements. Zero-shot transfer to the physical rover is achieved through domain randomization, sensor noise injection, and model-to-real system identification. Experimental results demonstrate autonomous traversal of rock fields, a Bickler trap (bump obstacle), a wheel-high step, sand ripples, and sandy slopes. On a 20° sandy slope, the learned controller reduces the cost of transport by 37% on dry sand despite the additional actuation, and achieves superior performance on wet sand where the passive suspension becomes completely immobilized. A video accompanying this paper is available at https://youtu.be/d684P5a3xMc} } - Heverly, M. and Bareh, M. (2026). The Impact of Major Anomalies of Robotic Mars Surface Missions on Mission Timeline
. IEEE Aerospace Conference. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{heverly2026impact, title = {The Impact of Major Anomalies of Robotic Mars Surface Missions on Mission Timeline}, author = {Heverly, Matt and Bareh, Magdy}, booktitle = {IEEE Aerospace Conference}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.48577/jpl.zlcejq} } - Griffo, V. and Nakka, Y. K. (2026). Terrain-Adaptive Grouser Wheel for Optimal Planetary Exploration: Design and Experimental Investigation. arxiv.org/abs/2605.24311v1
BibTeX
@misc{griffo2026terrain, title = {Terrain-Adaptive Grouser Wheel for Optimal Planetary Exploration: Design and Experimental Investigation}, author = {Griffo, Vincent and Nakka, Yashwanth Kumar}, year = {2026}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.24311v1} } - Krawciw, A., Olmedo, N., Rehmatullah, F., Desjardins-Goulet, M., Toupin, P. and Barfoot, T. D. (2026). Lunar Rover Cargo Transport: Mission Concept and Field Test
. IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics. Source
BibTeX
@article{krawciw2026lunar, title = {Lunar Rover Cargo Transport: Mission Concept and Field Test}, author = {Krawciw, Alexander and Olmedo, Nicolas and Rehmatullah, Faizan and Desjardins-Goulet, Maxime and Toupin, Pascal and Barfoot, Timothy D.}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics}, volume = {3}, pages = {162-176}, publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.1109/tfr.2026.3652156}, abstract = {In future operations on the lunar surface, automated vehicles will be required to transport cargo between known locations. Such vehicles must be able to navigate precisely in safe regions to avoid natural hazards, human-constructed infrastructure, and dangerous dark shadows. Rovers must be able to park their cargo autonomously within a small tolerance to achieve a successful pickup and delivery. In this field test, Lidar Teach and Repeat provides an ideal autonomy solution for transporting cargo in this way. A one-tonne path-to-flight rover was driven in a semi-autonomous remote-control mode to create a network of safe paths. Once the route was taught, the rover immediately repeated the entire network of paths autonomously while carrying cargo. The closed-loop performance is accurate enough to align the vehicle to the cargo and pick it up. This field report describes a two-week deployment at the Canadian Space Agency’s Analogue Terrain, culminating in a simulated lunar operation to evaluate the system’s capabilities. Successful cargo collection and delivery were demonstrated in harsh environmental conditions.} } - Chen, P.-T., Liu, J. Y., Bocchino, R. L. J., Mendeck, G. F. and Vaughan, G. M. (2026). Hazard Detection Flight Software for Processing LIDAR Generated DEM
. AIAA SciTech. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{chen2026hazard, title = {Hazard Detection Flight Software for Processing LIDAR Generated DEM}, author = {Chen, Po-Ting and Liu, John Y. and Bocchino, Robert L., Jr. and Mendeck, Gavin F. and Vaughan, Geoffrey M.}, booktitle = {AIAA SciTech}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.48577/jpl.d3e9iv}, abstract = {Hazard Detection (HD) is an enabling technology for safe landing on planetary bodies when the lander hazard tolerance capability is at the resolution limit of orbital imagery. This situation is common to many planetary bodies in the Solar System including Moon and Mars. At these locations, an autonomous lander can utilize a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor to map the landing area and construct a Digital Elevation Map (DEM) in real-time. The HD software developed by the Safe and Precise Landing Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) project is designed to process a DEM and identify safe landing locations in real-time. The hazard detection method is applicable to 4-legged lander geometry and is adaptable to different hazard tolerance and run time requirements. This paper discusses the hazard detection performance of the SPLICE HD software using DEMs generated by the SPLICE Hazard Detection LIDAR.} }