SPOTSURFACE PLANETARY TERRAIN

PLANETARY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESThe GMV Surface Planetary Terrain (SPoT) provides an experimental working area for rover navigation purposes (locomotion tracking, wheels slippage, obstacle avoidance, control), vision algorithms: visual odometry, Simultaneous Localisation Mapping (SLAM), Digital Elevation Model´s (DEM’s) generation and opportunistic science, tele-manipulation using robotic arms (soil samples fetching and rocks analysis) and landing.

In addition it allows validation and verification of On Board Software (OBSW) and Rover Surface operations. Even if it reproduces some characteristics of the Martian environment, SPoT is also suitable for Moon-like scenarios.

MARS FACTS Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.

It orbits the Sun at an average distance of 228 million km.

The air is 100 times thinner than on Earth, and mostly made up of CO2.

Violent storms can whip up clouds of dust. Sometimes these spread rapidly around the entire planet, hiding the surface from view.

Average temperature: -63ºC (similar to winters in Antarctica).

Image of Mars, the “Red Planet”

Mars Husband Hill landscape (true-color rendered images acquired by NASA’s Spirit rover).Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Cornell

GMV Robotics Day and DEM´s generated at GMV SPOT

TERRAIN CHARACTERISTICSDimensions Depth Specific weigth Cohesion Friction angleDeformation Poisson moduleGranulometry distribution

Chemical composition

15x12m (180 m2)12-20cm1300 Kg/m2

8-12 kPa32-25º10 MPa0.3UNE-103-302-94 0.01-5 mmSiO2 46% Al2O3 27% FeO2 7%