Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 41

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Two full-scale development model rovers are tested in JPL's Mars Yard in
August 2023 as part of NASA's CADRE tech demo. These tests confirmed
the project's hardware and software can work together to accomplish
key goals. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Mars Yard with full-scale versions of the rovers called development
models. With flight software and autonomy capabilities
aboard, these test rovers showed they can accomplish key goals
for the project. They drove together in formation. Faced with
unexpected obstacles, they adjusted their plans as a group by
sharing updated maps and replanning coordinated paths. And
when one rover's battery charge was low, the whole team
paused so they could later continue together.
The project conducted several drives at night under large
flood lamps so the rovers could experience extreme shadows
and lighting that approximate what they'll encounter during
the lunar daytime.
After that, the team performed similar drive tests with flight
models (the rovers that will go to the Moon) in a JPL clean room.
When the spotless floor there proved a bit slippery - a texture
different from the lunar surface - the robots got out of formation.
But they stopped, adjusted, and proceeded on their planned path.
" Dealing with curveballs - that's important for the autonomy.
The key is the robots respond to things going off plan, then
they replan and are still successful, " said JPL's Jean-Pierre de la
Croix, CADRE Principal Investigator and Autonomy Lead.
" We're going to a unique environment on the Moon, and there
will, of course, be some unknowns. We've done our best to prepare
for those by testing software and hardware together in various
situations. "
Next, the hardware will ship to Intuitive Machines for installation
on a Nova-C lander that will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket later this year.
This article was contributed by JPL (Pasadena, CA). For
more information, contact Melissa Pamer at melissa.pamer@
jpl.nasa.gov or visit https://go.nasa.gov/cadre.
Tech Briefs, June 2024
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Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024

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