Surface Autonomy Test Site
The IPEx Autonomy Test-Site Document
NASA’s goal of sustainable exploration of the Moon and Mars will be enabled by utilizing locally sourced resources such as oxygen. This approach will reduce the supplies launched from Earth and is known as in-situ resource uti- lization (ISRU) [1], [2]. Many of the resources available on the Moon can be found in the outer layer of loose rocky material known as regolith. The regolith can be excavated and processed to extract the desired elements and can also be used directly as a construction material.
The IPEx Autonomy Test-Site, shown in Fig. 1, is a large-scale enclosed environment designed to approximate key visual and operational aspects of the Lunar South Pole (LSP) region. This facility enables the development and validation of autonomous excavation technologies in a controlled, yet representatively challenging setting.
- NASA’s Artemis program aims to send humans to the lunar south pole (LSP), requiring in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies like the ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) to perform site preparation and resource extraction.
- The LSP is a uniquely challenging environment, characterized by low solar angles and long shadows that disrupt vision-based autonomy. To address these challenges, we developed the IPEx Autonomy Test-Site, a 21.3×33.5 m enclosed area for testing excavation technologies under simulated LSP conditions.
- The test-site is equipped with granular material, scattered rocks, and a full- scale lander model, all designed to simulate real challenges encountered at the LSP.
- Strategically placed high-power lights replicate the low solar angles, while a high-precision motion capture system offers ground truth robot poses.
- Site awareness cameras provide complete coverage of the test area for monitoring.
- Initial robotic testing has evaluated performance in both autonomous navigation and excavation tasks.
