The NASA Ames K9 rover approaching a rock for instrument placement operations. Technology developed at JPL under this effort is contributing the full system. (K9 has been developed from a JPL mechanical design, also used for JPL rovers FIDO and Rocky 8.)
The overall task will develop and integrate software for robust single cycle autonomous target approach and instrument placement against a rock target in a Mars like environment.
JPL's role on this task is to support the above objective by providing the technology necessary to achieve the target tracking from a rover platform in a Mars-like environment. The technology uses visual information from the multiple stereo cameras on the rover to keep track of a target selected by the scientists from ten meters away. The algorithm combines 2D and 3D information to keep the seleceted target in the camera's field-of-view as the rover drives toward that selected target.
JPL has a co-investigation role in this work, which is led by
Liam Pedersen of NASA Ames. JPL and Ames have collaboratively developed a software infrastructure,
CLARAty, which eases technology transfer efforts such as this one between the two centers.
