A 3-D MINIATURE LIDAR SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOT NAVIGATION FUTURE LUNAR SITE OPERATIONS WILL BENEFIT FROM MOB…

Public award description

A 3-D MINIATURE LIDAR SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOT NAVIGATION FUTURE LUNAR SITE OPERATIONS WILL BENEFIT FROM MOBILE ROBOTS, BOTH AUTONOMOUS AND TELE-OPERATED, THAT COMPLEMENT OR REPLACE HUMAN EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITY. THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSING TECHNOLOGY IS AT THE HEART OF SUCH FUNCTIONALITY, ENABLING RELIABLE NAVIGATION IN COMPLEX, DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS, AND SERVING AS A VALUABLE TOOL FOR INSPECTION AND SITE SURVEY. HONEYBEE ROBOTICS IS THEREFORE DEVELOPING A SMALL-ENVELOPE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE SCANNING LIDAR SYSTEM, GEARED PRIMARILY TOWARDS ROBOTIC NAVIGATION AND SECONDARILY TO SITE INSPECTION AND SURVEY. THE PROPOSED PHASE II WILL DRAW ON THE RESULTS OF A DARPA-FUNDED DESIGN STUDY AND PHASE I OF THIS EFFORT, WHICH RESULTED IN SUCCESSFUL PROOF-OF-CONCEPT, AS WELL AS TESTBEDS AND PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE TOOLS. THE HONEYBEE 3D MINIATURE LIDAR (3DML) USES A NOVEL SCANNING MECHANISM IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PULSE-TIME-OF-FLIGHT OPTICAL RANGEFINDING SUBSYSTEM. THE 3DML ARCHITECTURE, DEVELOPED WITH EXPERT INPUT FROM SENSOR DESIGNS, AN ELECTRO-OPTICAL SYSTEMS CONSULTANCY, ACHIEVES WIDE FIELD OF VIEW AND HIGH RESOLUTION WHILE MAINTAINING ULTRA-COMPACT PACKAGE SIZE. THE PROPOSED PHASE II WILL INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF A FUNCTIONAL BRASSBOARD SYSTEM PROTOTYPE AND ITS INTEGRATION AND TEST ON A K10 RESEARCH ROVER. PHASE III WILL PURSUE A MULTI-PRONGED COMMERCIALIZATION EFFORT, INCLUDING PREFLIGHT DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION OF A UNIT FOR TERRESTRIAL RESEARCH, AND INCORPORATION OF 3DML INTO A FLIGHT PROGRAM.