[P-PS05] Lunar science and exploration

[PPS05-05] Lunar Surface Mapping by SLAM Technology on Bionic Legged Rover

*LIANG CHEN¹, Takehiko Arai¹, Makiko Ohtake² (1.Ashikaga University, 2.University of Aizu)

Keywords:Lunar Polar, SLAM, Rover

Since Apollo's lunar exploration, it is believed that the moon's permanent shadow contains ancient water ice and dust ice poured from comets (Arnold, 1979). LIDAR, a laser altimeter onboard the lunar orbiter SELENE, found out the existence of permanent shadows in the polar regions of the Moon (Noda et al., 2009). The visible and infrared spectroscopic imager M3 onboard the Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 provided data suggesting the existence of water ice (Pieters et al., 2009). Therefore, polar exploration is an important target for the next lunar exploration. We have been developing a bionic rover for lunar exploration. The rover has a bionic mechanism with intelligence, which is more stable moving for complex rocks on the lunar surface than a wheel mechanism. The rover has individual motors for every single joint compared with other legged robots. Hence it has higher flexibility. We have also been developing self-positioning and self-maneuver software that drives the rover autonomously and safely under extreme conditions, even in complex areas on the lunar surface. In this study, we apply a SLAM algorithm for lunar surface mapping. We develop the algorithm of self-position estimation and map construction by the rover itself. The algorithm efficiently discovers target material to investigate by utilizing the lunar surface's topographic and spectroscopic observational data obtained by instruments onboard the rover. The algorithm can project the scientific observation data on the generated map to realize autonomous maneuver without GPS or pre-existing map for efficient lunar polar exploration by integrating these data.