Towards Autonomous Space Robots: Challenges from Realistic Field Tests

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Areas mainly addressed: Autonomy, Collaborative Robots and cloud robotics 

Main questions to be answered: 

· What are the main scientific/technical challenges for robotic applications in planetary/space exploration in comparison to terrestrial, mobile field robots? 

· How can the collaboration and exchange between the different space and field robot stakeholders in the EU be improved to enable a sustainable, joint ongoing development for space applications? 

WS Description: Over the last years interest in robotics for space exploration has reached an all-time high and many companies and research institutions have created and taken part in international challenges and realistic analogue missions. The developments are impressive but can often not directly contribute to state of the artstate-of-the-art advances in the field. 

This workshop will, on the one hand, allow for various parties, from both research and industry, to give an overview over their current approaches and results. On the other hand, it will discuss the major technical challenges in robotic space exploration, robot autonomy and how we can improve collaboration between the different stakeholders. 

We expect this workshop to create new collaborations and a joint white paper with the technical and organizational challenges for collaborative research in robotic space exploration. 

Intended outcome: Workshop on recent developments in technology or applications, Workshop expected to create a roadmap or white paper, Workshop discussion topics of common interest, success stories, use cases, etc 

Approach: Motivation and Introduction <10min>: 

* Arne Roennau: Motivation, introduction and presentation of questions and goals of workshop 

Short scientific / technical pitches on field experiences <5-10 min each>: 

* Prof. Dr. Miguel Olivares-Mendez – “ROS 2 multi-robot collaboration for Lunar exploration” 

* Dr. Armin Wedler – “First Results from the ARCHES analoge Campaign – Common campaigns as good exchange for EU members in planetary exploration” 

* Dr. Hendrik Kolvenbach – “Towards legged robots for planetary exploration” 

* Tristan Schnell – “Autonomous Robots on the Moon – Multirobot Exploration of new Frontiers” 

* Dr. Krzysztof Walas – “The role of students’ competitions in the progress of space robotics” 

* Dr. Matt Cross 

Interactive discussion with Miro-Board: Main scientific and technical challenges <10min> 

Interactive discussion with Miro-Board: How to improve collaboration <15min> 

Contributors: Tristan Schnell, Junior Scientist and Team Lead for ESA Space Robotics Challenge at FZI Research Center for Information Technology – confirmed 

Prof. Dr. Miguel Olivares-Mendez, Head of the Space Robotics (SpaceR) Research Group at University of Luxembourg – confirmed 

Dr. Matt Cross, Senior Systems Engineer and Team Lead for ESA Space Robotics Challenge at Mission Control Space Services Inc – confirmed 

Dr. Hendrik Kolvenbach, Senior Scientist and Team Lead for ESA Space Robotics Challenge at ETH Zurich – confirmed 

Grzegorz Gawdzik, Project Manager and Team Lead for ESA Space Robotics Challenge at Łukasiewicz – PIAP Institute – invited 

Dr. Thomas Krüger, Team Lead and Lead Developer at ESA Human Robot Interaction Lab – invited 

Dr. Krzysztof Walas, Assistant Professor at Poznan University of Technology and Co-Organizer of European Rover Challenge – confirmed 

Dr. Armin Wedler, Research Scientist and Project Lead for DLR-Arches at German Aerospace Center (DLR) – confirmed 

Organisers: 

· Arne Rönnau, roennau@fzi.de, FZI

· Tristan Schnell, schnell@fzi.de, FZ

Event Timeslots (1)

Room 106 – Floor 1
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15 March - Specific operating environments
Arne Rönnau