European team unveils robotic mission to explore mysterious lunar caves!

European team unveils robotic mission to explore mysterious lunar caves!

A European research team has developed an innovative mission concept to explore inaccessible areas on the moon and other celestial bodies. This concept, recently published in the journal Science Robotics was presented, involves the collaboration of three autonomous robots that are intended to map and examine extreme environments.

The target sites for these missions are underground lava tubes created by volcanic activity. These lava tubes provide natural protection from dangerous radiation and meteor impacts, but their difficult-to-access nature makes them challenging to explore. The mission concept is divided into four phases that allow the complex environment to be efficiently mapped and analyzed:

• Kooperative Kartierung der Skylight-Umgebung.
• Einbringen eines Sensorkubus zur Datenerfassung in die Höhle.
• Abseilen eines Erkundungsrovers durch das Skylight.
• Autonome Erkundung und detaillierte 3D-Kartierung.

Technical details of the mission

The first field test of this mission took place in February 2023 on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, using several DFKI robotic systems, including SherpaTT, Coyote III and LUVMI-X from Space Applications Services of Belgium. In the first phase of the mission, the three robots first mapped the environment and the skylight. LUVMI-X then placed the sensor cube in the collapse opening for data collection.

In the third phase, SherpaTT rappelled the exploration robot Coyote III into the dark expanses of the cave in a controlled manner. Finally, Coyote III was able to explore the underground structures and create a 3D model of the environment. The results of the test confirmed the technical feasibility of the concept and the potential of cooperating robot systems.

The context of robotic space travel

Robots are playing an increasingly important role in space travel, especially in the exploration of extraterrestrial planetary surfaces. Unmanned mobile exploration rovers have already been successfully deployed on the Moon and Mars, and future missions, such as ESA's ExoMars mission, are already in the starting blocks. These technology-enabled explorations offer a promising scientific return-to-cost ratio, particularly at a time when human spaceflight is becoming increasingly expensive. Robotic systems such as the models developed as part of the CoRob-X project should be able to reach difficult-to-access areas on these planets and create the conditions for future manned missions.

The CoRob-X project, which has been coordinated with nine European partners since 2021, focuses on the development of an Advanced Robotic Exploration System (ADRES). By improving existing technologies in areas such as locomotion, perception and decision-making, an effective system for exploring extreme environments is to be established. This also happens as part of the strategic research cluster “Space Robotics Technologies”, which is part of Horizon 2020 and the PERASPERA initiative.

Ongoing developments and the planning of further tests until 2025 make the importance of robot-assisted technologies for space travel clear. The entire project team will identify the critical technologies and evaluate the current state of the art to close knowledge gaps and find better solutions for the future.