Autonomous Control of Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)

Abstract

This paper presents autonomous control of Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2), a transformable nano rover designed for JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission. Rovers with high mobility and maneuverability have gained considerable attention for future lunar and planetary exploration. One rover is being developed to take images that record the SLIM lander and its surroundings up close and immediately after landing on the Moon. It complements the landing technology demonstration of the SLIM mission. The rover activates after separating from the lander, first deploying its wheels. It then rights itself and is ready to record, select, and transmit mission data, including images and logs, while circling the lander. Throughout the operation, its onboard image processing locates the lander wrapped in Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets and selects the images to transmit to Earth without any instruction from Earth. It accomplishes this with only wireless communication with another robot, the LEV-1, to transfer the telemetry, images, and driving and imaging logs and bypassing the lander. This paper describes an overview of the rover and mission, image processing, operational sequence, and field testing. The field test simulating the optical lunar environment affirmed that our image processing algorithm can detect the SLIM lander and estimate the relative distance for autonomous control.