John R. Merila

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About

John R. Merila is a leading researcher in the field of in-space and planetary robotic construction, with a primary focus on autonomous truss assembly and mobile manipulation systems. His work centers on developing the hardware and control architectures necessary for building large-scale structures, such as the Tall Lunar Tower (TLT), using climbing collaborative mobile manipulators (C2M2). Merila’s major contributions include the design and ground demonstration of the Robotic Tower Assembly System (RTAS) and the TLT Truss engineering development units (EDUs), which validated the feasibility of supervised semi-autonomous robotic assembly for truss-based towers. His 2023 paper on scaling C2M2 for outfitting tall structures has garnered 3 citations, while his 2025 hardware demonstration paper has earned 2 citations, reflecting the early but critical impact of his work on future lunar infrastructure. By proving that truss structures offer exceptional strength-to-weight ratios for robotic assembly, Merila is laying the groundwork for next-generation planetary habitats, towers, and servicing platforms, making him a key figure in the transition from concept to operational space construction.