A Commanding and Visualization Software Suite for Controlling the Mars Rovers and Other Planetary Robots

Frank R. Hartman; Brian Cooper; Scott Maxwell; John Wright; Jeng Yen

doi:10.20965/jaciii.2010.p0004

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JACIII Vol.14 No.1 pp. 4-12

doi: 10.20965/jaciii.2010.p0004

(2010)

Paper:

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A Commanding and Visualization Software Suite for Controlling the Mars Rovers and Other Planetary Robots

Frank R. Hartman, Brian Cooper, Scott Maxwell, John Wright, and Jeng Yen

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, USA

Received:

April 21, 2009

Accepted:

August 15, 2009

Published:

January 20, 2010

Keywords:

spacecraft commanding, in-situ operations, planetary rover, sequence visualization, augmented reality

Abstract

The Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program is a suite of tools for the commanding of planetary rovers and other robots. The overall program architecture is based on components synchronizing and messaging over an inter-process communication bus. This paper will provide a description of these components and discuss how they work together to provide several modes of information display and visualization for robotic commanding. Results from over 3000 sols of combined operations of the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be used to illustrate features of the RSVP suite. Support for the Phoenix Mars Lander, Mars Science Lander and other lunar and planetary missions will also be discussed.

Cite this article as:

F. Hartman, B. Cooper, S. Maxwell, J. Wright, and J. Yen, “A Commanding and Visualization Software Suite for Controlling the Mars Rovers and Other Planetary Robots,” J. Adv. Comput. Intell. Intell. Inform., Vol.14, No.1, pp. 4-12, 2010.

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References

[1] B. Cooper, “Driving on the Surface of Mars Using the Rover Control Workstation,” Proc. of SpaceOps’98, Tokyo, Japan, 1998.
[2] B. Green et al., “Processing and Analysis of the Mars Pathfinder Science Data,” J. of Geophysical Research, Vol.104, pp. 8831-8852, April, 1999.
[3] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, and B. Cooper, “Immersive Visualization for Mission Operations: Beyond Mars Pathfinder,” Proc. of SpaceOps’98, Tokyo, Japan, 1998.
[4] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, and B. Cooper, “Immersive Environment Technologies for Mars Exploration,” Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, 1999.
[5] S. Maxwell, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, J. Wright, and J. Yen, “The Design and Architecture of the Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.
[6] S. Maxwell, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, J. Wright, and J. Yen, “The Best of Both Worlds: Integrating Textual and Visual Command Interfaces for Mars Rover Operation,” Proc. of IEEE SMC 2005, Waikoloa, Hawaii, 2005.
[7] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, B. Cooper, S. Maxwell, and J. Morrison, “Terrain Modeling for Immersive Visualization for the Mars Exploration Rovers,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.
[8] J. Yen, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, S. Maxwell, and J. Wright, “Sequence Rehearsal and Validation on Surface Operations of the Mars Exploration Rovers,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.
[9] J. N. Maki, J. F. Bell, K. E. Herkenhoff, S. W. Squyres, A. Kiely, M. Klimesh, M. Schwochert, T. Litwin, R. Willson, A. Johnson, M. Maimone, E. Baumgartner, A. Collins, M. Wadsworth, S. T. Elliot, A. Dingizian, D. Brown, E. C. Hagerott, L. Scherr, R. Deen, D. Alexander, and J. Lorre, “The Mars Exploration Rover Engineering Cameras,” J. Geophys. Res., 108(E12), 8071, December, 2003.
[10] J. S. Norris, M. W. Powell, M. A. Vona, P. G. Backes, and J. V. Wick, “Mars Exploration Rover Operations with the Science Activity Planner,” To appear in Proc., IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, Spain, April, 2005.
[11] S. Goldberg, M. Maimone, and L. Matthies, “Stereo Vision and Rover Navigation Software for Planetary Exploration,” Proc. of the 2002 IEEE Aerospace Conf., Vol.5, Big Sky, Montana, March, 2002.
[12] R. Bonitz et al., “NASA Mars 2007 Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm and Icy Soil Acquisition Device,” J. of Geophysical Research, 113(E00A01), June, 2007.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] B. Cooper, “Driving on the Surface of Mars Using the Rover Control Workstation,” Proc. of SpaceOps’98, Tokyo, Japan, 1998.

[2] [2] B. Green et al., “Processing and Analysis of the Mars Pathfinder Science Data,” J. of Geophysical Research, Vol.104, pp. 8831-8852, April, 1999.

[3] [3] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, and B. Cooper, “Immersive Visualization for Mission Operations: Beyond Mars Pathfinder,” Proc. of SpaceOps’98, Tokyo, Japan, 1998.

[4] [4] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, and B. Cooper, “Immersive Environment Technologies for Mars Exploration,” Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, 1999.

[5] [5] S. Maxwell, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, J. Wright, and J. Yen, “The Design and Architecture of the Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.

[6] [6] S. Maxwell, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, J. Wright, and J. Yen, “The Best of Both Worlds: Integrating Textual and Visual Command Interfaces for Mars Rover Operation,” Proc. of IEEE SMC 2005, Waikoloa, Hawaii, 2005.

[7] [7] J. Wright, F. R. Hartman, B. Cooper, S. Maxwell, and J. Morrison, “Terrain Modeling for Immersive Visualization for the Mars Exploration Rovers,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.

[8] [8] J. Yen, B. Cooper, F. R. Hartman, S. Maxwell, and J. Wright, “Sequence Rehearsal and Validation on Surface Operations of the Mars Exploration Rovers,” Proc. of SpaceOps 2004, Montreal, Canada, 2004.

[9] [9] J. N. Maki, J. F. Bell, K. E. Herkenhoff, S. W. Squyres, A. Kiely, M. Klimesh, M. Schwochert, T. Litwin, R. Willson, A. Johnson, M. Maimone, E. Baumgartner, A. Collins, M. Wadsworth, S. T. Elliot, A. Dingizian, D. Brown, E. C. Hagerott, L. Scherr, R. Deen, D. Alexander, and J. Lorre, “The Mars Exploration Rover Engineering Cameras,” J. Geophys. Res., 108(E12), 8071, December, 2003.

[10] [10] J. S. Norris, M. W. Powell, M. A. Vona, P. G. Backes, and J. V. Wick, “Mars Exploration Rover Operations with the Science Activity Planner,” To appear in Proc., IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, Spain, April, 2005.

[11] [11] S. Goldberg, M. Maimone, and L. Matthies, “Stereo Vision and Rover Navigation Software for Planetary Exploration,” Proc. of the 2002 IEEE Aerospace Conf., Vol.5, Big Sky, Montana, March, 2002.

[12] [12] R. Bonitz et al., “NASA Mars 2007 Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm and Icy Soil Acquisition Device,” J. of Geophysical Research, 113(E00A01), June, 2007.