Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03371 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866918275044081664 |
|---|---|
| author | Krawciw, Alexander Olmedo, Nicolas Rehmatullah, Faizan Desjardins-Goulet, Maxime Toupin, Pascal Barfoot, Timothy D. |
| author_facet | Krawciw, Alexander Olmedo, Nicolas Rehmatullah, Faizan Desjardins-Goulet, Maxime Toupin, Pascal Barfoot, Timothy D. |
| contents | 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. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_03371 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Lunar Rover Cargo Transport: Mission Concept and Field Test Krawciw, Alexander Olmedo, Nicolas Rehmatullah, Faizan Desjardins-Goulet, Maxime Toupin, Pascal Barfoot, Timothy D. Robotics 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. |
| title | Lunar Rover Cargo Transport: Mission Concept and Field Test |
| topic | Robotics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03371 |