Autonomous Navigation and Multi-Modal Path Planning in Lunar Craters Using a Modular Snake-like Robot

The exploration of lunar caves and craters is critical to the Artemis mission of establishing a permanent human base camp on the Moon. These extreme environments offer a myriad of utility for future lunar settlements. Lunar caves are more thermally stable than the surface and offer protection from incoming solar radiation and meteorites, making them an intriguing location for long-term habitats. Lunar craters located in permanently shadowed regions contain deposits of water ice that could be used in the production of drinking water, rocket propellant, and other valuable resources for surface operations. However, conventional wheel-based rovers are unable to traverse these environments due to the steep slopes, lack of sunlight, and high porosity regolith. One solution to these mobility challenges is the Crater Observing Bio-inspired Rolling Articulator (COBRA), a modular snake- like robot created as part of NASA's 2022 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. COBRA is able to sidewind across porous surfaces and tumble down steep slopes to traverse its terrain. This proposed research project aims to develop an autonomous architecture for COBRA, enabling it to independently plan and execute paths through its environment. This self- reliance is critical to navigation in unexplored areas, where detailed prior information about the surroundings is unavailable. First, COBRA will be equipped with a suite of sensors and computer algorithms, allowing it to localize its position within a generated map of the environment. Then, state-of-the-art reinforcement learning techniques will be applied in a simulation environment to develop optimized locomotion controllers, enabling COBRA to autonomously traverse a manually requested path. Finally, a path planning algorithm will be designed and implemented to manage COBRA's multiple modes of locomotion. The complete architecture will be tested in indoor and outdoor environments to demonstrate the autonomous exploration capabilities of the system. The integration of autonomy on the COBRA platform will expand its value as a robust robotic system capable of performing science missions in challenging lunar locations.

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