Planetary Rover

Planetary rovers are robotic vehicles designed for autonomous exploration of other celestial bodies, primarily focused on scientific data acquisition and sample collection. Current research emphasizes enhancing rover safety and autonomy through improved path planning algorithms (incorporating stochastic models and chance constraints), advanced sensor fusion techniques (like probabilistic fusion of traversability predictions and image-guided exploration), and robust localization methods (leveraging crater detection and improved Kalman filtering). These advancements are crucial for enabling more efficient and reliable exploration of challenging terrains, such as lunar shadowed regions and Martian lava tubes, ultimately furthering our understanding of planetary geology and potentially supporting future human missions.