Researchers at the Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) are developing a system to help automate the delivery of cargo on the Moon.
The project is led by Professor Tim Barfoot along with PhD student Alec Kravchiw in collaboration with MDA Space. Their goal is to teach the lunar transport robot to move independently between the ship's landing site and a residential base about 5 km away.
To do this, the “learn and repeat” principle is used: the robot first takes a route manually, memorizes the path, and can then automatically drive along that route multiple times. This will allow astronauts to save time and effort.
The system was tested in Montreal at a test site simulating the surface of Mars. There, scientists encountered communication delays, which is why they developed a new semi-autonomous learning method in a short time.
The tests were successful.
