Development of lunar rover control software

Milrem Robotics

Tartu observatory of the University of Tartu and military robot manufacturer Milrem cooperate with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a lunar rover for the agency's future missions.

Currently, our goal is to develop tools that would allow lunar rovers to travel large distances autonomously. To do this, we use the existing experience with previously created autonomous machines designed to move in a challenging environment, such as a forest. Because the natural environments on Earth are different from the Moon, we have had to create analog environments to test and develop our imagined solutions.

To verify the reliability of technology developed from the comfort of our home planet, we need powerful photorealistic lunar simulations. They can be used to test challenges and solutions arising from the lunar environment. Our team has developed two methods of planetary rover validation. The first is a state-of-the-art digital simulation environment of the lunar surface, which is designed based on the most accurate remote sensing data and also anticipates the laws of physics that apply on the Moon. The other is an underground physical space where Moon-like scenes can be modeled on granite sand.

Read the Space Travel Blog article on creating Moon simulation environments.

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