Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

REALMS2 -- Resilient Exploration And Lunar Mapping System 2 -- A Comprehensive Approach

Dave van der Meer, Loïck P. Chovet, Gabriel M. Garcia, Abhishek Bera, Miguel A. Olivares-Mendez

TL;DR

This work tackles autonomous planetary prospection with multiple heterogeneous robots operating under communication delays. It introduces REALMS2, a decentralised, mesh-networked framework built on ROS 2 that integrates vSLAM, RTAB-Map, map merging, and a Dockerised stack, plus a lander gateway and a single-operator UI. Key contributions include a fully decentralised architecture with a mesh communication layer (HWMP+), a per-robot ROS master approach to handle delays, and online map merging validated in the ESA-ESRIC Challenge, achieving around 60% area coverage in a lunar analogue arena. The results demonstrate resilient multi-robot exploration under degraded communications, with practical implications for scalable, resource-minding missions in space environments.

Abstract

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) created the Space Resources Challenge to invite researchers and companies to propose innovative solutions for Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) space prospection. This paper proposes the Resilient Exploration And Lunar Mapping System 2 (REALMS2), a MRS framework for planetary prospection and mapping. Based on Robot Operating System version 2 (ROS 2) and enhanced with Visual Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (vSLAM) for map generation, REALMS2 uses a mesh network for a robust ad hoc network. A single graphical user interface (GUI) controls all the rovers, providing a simple overview of the robotic mission. This system is designed for heterogeneous multi-robot exploratory missions, tackling the challenges presented by extraterrestrial environments. REALMS2 was used during the second field test of the ESA-ESRIC Challenge and allowed to map around 60% of the area, using three homogeneous rovers while handling communication delays and blackouts.

REALMS2 -- Resilient Exploration And Lunar Mapping System 2 -- A Comprehensive Approach

TL;DR

This work tackles autonomous planetary prospection with multiple heterogeneous robots operating under communication delays. It introduces REALMS2, a decentralised, mesh-networked framework built on ROS 2 that integrates vSLAM, RTAB-Map, map merging, and a Dockerised stack, plus a lander gateway and a single-operator UI. Key contributions include a fully decentralised architecture with a mesh communication layer (HWMP+), a per-robot ROS master approach to handle delays, and online map merging validated in the ESA-ESRIC Challenge, achieving around 60% area coverage in a lunar analogue arena. The results demonstrate resilient multi-robot exploration under degraded communications, with practical implications for scalable, resource-minding missions in space environments.

Abstract

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) created the Space Resources Challenge to invite researchers and companies to propose innovative solutions for Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) space prospection. This paper proposes the Resilient Exploration And Lunar Mapping System 2 (REALMS2), a MRS framework for planetary prospection and mapping. Based on Robot Operating System version 2 (ROS 2) and enhanced with Visual Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (vSLAM) for map generation, REALMS2 uses a mesh network for a robust ad hoc network. A single graphical user interface (GUI) controls all the rovers, providing a simple overview of the robotic mission. This system is designed for heterogeneous multi-robot exploratory missions, tackling the challenges presented by extraterrestrial environments. REALMS2 was used during the second field test of the ESA-ESRIC Challenge and allowed to map around 60% of the area, using three homogeneous rovers while handling communication delays and blackouts.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 24 sections, 8 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Multi-robot systems
  4. Mesh Networks
  5. Methods and Materials
  6. Rover architecture
  7. Hardware
  8. Software
  9. Lander
  10. User Interface
  11. Frontend
  12. Backend
  13. Subsystem Tests
  14. Network Testing and Evaluation
  15. Maximum Communication Range
  16. ...and 9 more sections

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: Second field test arena for the ESA-ESRIC Space Resources Challenge
  • Figure 2: Leo Rover setup used for
  • Figure 3: global system overview
  • Figure 4: Foxglove Studio - Main interface
  • Figure 5: Two graphs displaying the positions of the robots during the network evaluation. On the top, only two robots are used to measure the range. On the bottom one, a relay is placed in the middle, ensuring a better bandwidth
  • ...and 3 more figures