The following table lists major awards given to JPL Robotics personnel over the past 20 years. Please click on the award names for more information.
| Year |
Award Name |
Effort |
Recipient(s) |
| 2011 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For exemplary performance in development and transition of first-of-its-kind intelligent autonomy technology derived from NASA flight missions to the US Navy maritime domain. |
Intelligent Autonomy for Unmanned Vehicles Team |
| 2011 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
For exemplary leadership and effort in engineering the technical success of the All-Terrain Hex Limbed Extraterrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) robotic vehicle research project. |
Jaret B. Matthews |
| 2011 |
NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
For exceptional service leading the Mobility and Robotic Systems Section to the forefront of flight and technology development. |
Richard A. Volpe |
| 2010 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For successful implementation of the R9.3 software enabling Mars Exploration Rover operations past 2010. |
MER R9.3 Flight Software Team |
| 2010 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For the quick and extensive action by the operations team that permitted the Spirit rover to survive a massive and fast moving global Martian dust storm. |
MER Spirit Dust Storm Survival Team |
| 2010 |
IEEE Aerospace Conference Best Paper |
Analysis of Flash Lidar Field Test Data for Safe Lunar Landing, IEEE Aerospace Conference, 6-13 March 2010 |
Tonislav Ivanov, A. E. Johnson, J. A. Keim |
| 2009 |
King-Sun Fu Best IEEE Transactions on Robotics Paper Award |
Vision-Aided Inertial Navigation for Spacecraft Entry, Descent, and Landing, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol. 25, No. 2, Page(s): 264 - 280 |
Adnan Ansar, Larry Matthies, A. I. Mourikis, N. Trawny, S. I. Roumeliotis, A. E. Johnson |
| 2009 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
For outstanding leadership of the Phoenix mission Robotic Arm system development. |
Robert Bonitz |
| 2009 |
NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal |
For the successful maturation, validation, and deployment of the Visual Targeting Tracking capability for the Mars Exploration Rover mission. |
Won Kim |
| 2009 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For outstanding achievement in developing an innovative Mars entry, descent, and landing simulation and targeting tool for the Phoenix and Mars Science Laboratory missions. |
DSENDS Team |
| 2009 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For outstanding contributions to the development and operations of the Aerobot Testbed in support of proposed NASA Titan missions. |
Titan Aerobot Testbed Development Team |
| 2009 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
For successful implementation, delivery, and operation of the payload for the Phoenix Mars Lander. |
Phoenix Project Payload Team |
| 2008 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Leadership and effective collaboration oversight of the technology infusion of new autonomy software into the MER flight software. |
Khaled Ali |
| 2008 |
IEEE Robotics and Automation Award |
For contributions to robotics enabling effective autonomous operations of science investigations under extreme conditions on the planet Mars. |
Paul Backes, Larry Matthies, Eric Baumgartner |
| 2007 |
NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Major Space Act Award |
Mars Exploration Rovers Flight Software |
Khaled Ali, Jeffrey Biesiadecki, Robert Bonitz, Mark Maimone, Todd Litwin, Chris Leger |
| 2007 |
IEEE Region 6 Outstanding Engineer award |
For exceptional technical leadership in diagnosing the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity robotic arm anomaly culminating in a successful resolution of the problem and continued use of the arm in extended mission operations. Also for exceptional service to the IEEE as a Guest Editor in organizing and publishing a special issue of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine on Mars Exploration Rovers, June 2006. |
Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu |
| 2007 |
Institution of Engineering and Technology Achievement Medal - Sir Monty Finniston Award for an outstanding technical contribution to an engineering project |
Mars Exploration Rovers extended mission operations and engineering. |
Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu |
| 2007 |
Robotics Society of Japan, Best Paper Award |
For the paper, "Slip-compensated path following for planetary exploration rovers," Advanced Robotics, Vol.20, No.11, pp.1257-1280, October, 2006. |
Daniel Helmick, Yang Cheng, Daniel Clouse, Max Bajracharya, Larry Matthies |
| 2007 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Computer Vision Research and Mission Infusion |
Larry Matthies |
| 2007 |
NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal |
Robotics engineering in research and flight, and consistent support of Equal Opportunity Programs |
Edward Tunstel |
| 2007 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
Development of the Descent Image Motion Estimation System (DIMES) for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission |
Andrew Johnson, Yang Cheng, Reg Willson, Jay Goguen, Chris Leger, Miguel Sanmartin |
| 2007 |
NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Major Space Act Award |
Sub-pixel Fiducial Detection |
Max Bajracharya |
| 2007 |
NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Major Space Act Award |
AUTOAPPROACH: System for Single Command Science Target Rendezvous |
Terry Huntsberger, Yang Cheng, Chris Leger |
| 2006 |
World Automation Congress Lifetime Career Achievement Award |
In Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to Multivariable Control Systems, Robotic Systems, and Space Applications |
Homayoun Seraji |
| 2006 |
ASPRS John I Davidson Award for Practical Papers |
Initial Results of Rover Localization and Topographic Mapping for the 2003 MER Mission |
Mark Maimone, Larry Matthies, et al. |
| 2006 |
Center Best One NASA Peer Award |
CLARAty: Coupled Layer Architecture For Robotic Autonomy |
Issa Nesnas, et al. |
| 2006 |
NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
Control and Modelling Using Spatial Operators for Multibody Dynamics |
Guillermo Rodriguez |
| 2005 |
JPL Level A Bonus Award |
Mars Exploration Rovers Slip Compensation |
Mark Maimone |
| 2005 |
NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Major Space Act Award |
Configuration Control of Dexterous 7-DOF Robotic Arms |
Homayoun Seraji |
| 2005 |
The Industrial Robot Highly Commended Award |
For the paper "LEMUR IIB: a Robotic System for Steep Terrain Access", at the CLAWAR 2005 conference. |
Brett Kennedy, Avi Okon, Hrand Aghazarian, Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Mike Garrett, Lee Magnone, et al. |
| 2004 |
Imager of the Year award, Advanced Imaging Magazine |
Visualization and image processing software of the MER's Science Activity Planner (a.k.a. Maestro) |
Mark Powell |
| 2004 |
INCOSE Outstanding Paper Award |
Towards a Systematic Approach for Selection of NASA Technology Portfolios |
Alberto Elfes, et al. |
| 2004 |
Journal of Robotic Systems |
Most-published author in 20-year history |
Homayoun Seraji |
| 2004 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Arab Student Organization Arab American Science and Technology Achievement Award |
Cumulative |
Khaled Ali |
| 2004 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Mars Exploration Rover Autonomous Surface Navigation System |
Mark Maimone |
| 2004 |
NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
Mars Exploration Rovers Flight Software |
Jeffrey Biesiadecki |
| 2004 |
NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Major Space Act Award |
Planetary Rover Absolute Heading Using a Sun-Sensor |
Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, et al. |
| 2004 |
NASA Software Of The Year Award |
Science Activity Planner |
Jeff Norris, Mark Powell, Paul Backes, et al. |
| 2003 |
Best Paper, International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR'03) |
Sensory Fusion for Planetary Surface Robotic Navigation, Rendezvous, and Manipulation Operat |
T. Huntsberger, Y. Cheng, E.T. Baumgartner, M. Robinson, and P.S. Schenker |
| 2003 |
JPL Level A Bonus Award |
Mars Technology Program Rover Technology Development |
Richard Volpe |
| 2003 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Galileo, SSI Recovery |
Greg Levanas |
| 2002 |
JPL Edward Stone Award for Best Journal Publication |
"Behavior-Based Robot Navigation on Challenging Terrain: A Fuzzy Logic Approach, IEEE Trans. R&A
18(3), June 2002." |
Homayoun Seraji, Ayanna Howard |
| 2002 |
JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence |
Early Career |
Andrew Johnson |
| 2001 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
For exceptional innovations in computer vision technology that enable autonomous navigation of rovers, landers, and orbiters |
Larry Matthies |
| 2000 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
MER/FIDO Black Rock Summit, NV Field Trials |
Paul Schenker, et al. |
| 1999 |
JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence |
Early Career |
Adrian Stoica |
| 1999 |
NASA Group Achievement Award |
FIDO Silverlake, CA Field Trials |
Paul Schenker, et al. |
| 1998 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Mars Pathfinder Development and Operations |
Al Sirota |
| 1998 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
RCW (Rover Control Workstation) software used on Mars Pathfinder |
Brian Cooper |
| 1998 |
NASA Software Of The Year Award, Sole Runner-Up |
Web Interface for Telescience (WITS) |
Paul Backes |
| 1998 |
NASA/U.S. Dept. of Interior William T. Pecora Group Award |
TOPEX/Poseidon Mission |
Eddie Tunstel |
| 1997 |
IEEE Fellow, Robotics and Automation Society |
For significant original contributions to robotic manipulator control technology |
Homayoun Seraji |
| 1997 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Rocky 7 Rover Development |
Richard Volpe |
| 1997 |
NASA Software Of The Year Award |
DARTS: Dynamics Algorithms for Real-Time Simulation |
Abhi Jain, et al. |
| 1997 |
U.C. Irvine Lauds and Laurels Outstanding Alumnus |
Lead Rover Driver for Mars Pathfinder |
Brian Cooper |
| 1996 |
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
Galileo troubleshooting |
Greg Levanas |
| 1994 |
Best Video Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation |
Remote Surface Inspection Technology for the Space Station |
Samad Hayati, J. Balaram, Homayoun Seraji, Richard Volpe, et al. |
| 1993 |
NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal |
Telerobotics |
Paul Backes |
| 1992 |
NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal |
For significant original contributions to robotic manipulator control technology |
Homayoun Seraji |
| 1991 |
NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
Galileo, HGA Recovery Effort |
Greg Levanas |
