Technology and Field Demonstration of Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites

: Meteorites are the only significant source of material from other planets and asteroids, and therefore are of immense scientific value. Antarctica's frozen and pristine environment has proven to be the best place on Earth to harvest meteorite specimens. The lack of melting and surface erosion keep meteorite falls visible on the ice surface in pristine condition for thousands of years. In this article we describe the robotic technologies and field demonstration that enabled the first discovery of Antarctic meteorites by a robot. Using a novel autonomous control architecture, specialized science sensing, combined manipulation and visual servoing, and Bayesian classification, the Nomad robot found and classified five indigenous meteorites during an expedition to the remote site of Elephant Moraine in January 2000. This article first overviews Nomad's mechatronic systems, and details the control architecture that governs the robot's autonomy and classifier that enables the...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: IJRR
• Authors: Dimitrios Apostolopoulos, Michael D. Wagner, Benjamin Shamah, Liam Pedersen, Kimberly J. Shillcutt, William Whittaker
• Keywords: Elephant Moraine, Field Demonstrations, IJRR 2000, Meteorites