From the surface of Mars to the ocean of Enceladus: Advancing the Frontier of Exploration with Adaptive Robots
by
Hiro Ono
Group Supervisor of the Robotic Mobility Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Monday, January 13
3:30 -4:30 p.m.
Guggenheim 246
About the Seminar:
Robots have been at the forefront of Solar System exploration for over seven decades. Most recently, NASA’s Perseverance rover is on its mission to find a sign of ancient Martian life that might have existed billions of years ago. However, current Mars exploration requires ample environmental knowledge accumulated over decades and across multiple missions, resulting in a slow progression toward exploring unvisited worlds beyond Mars. I envision a new robotic space exploration (RSE) paradigm called RSE 3.0, in which a highly adaptive robotic system would explore previously unvisited worlds in one shot. As an instantiation of RSE 3.0, we developed the EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor) robot, a snake-like robot designed for exploring the potentially inhabited subsurface ocean of Enceladus, a small icy moon of Saturn. EELS combines highly versatile robotic hardware with intelligent, risk-aware autonomy so that it can flexibly adapt its behaviors after landing. We built prototypes of EELS and successfully tested them in a wide range of environments, including natural vertical holes on Athabasca Glacier in Canada. Adaptive and intelligent robots like EELS will be a key enabler of the RSE 3.0 paradigm, which would open the door to the exploration of more distant and challenging worlds than Mars. This seminar will start by describing the autonomous motion planning capability of the Perseverance rover, followed by research on AI/ML applications for future planetary rovers. The technologies and the field demonstrations of EELS will be presented in depth, with particular emphasis on autonomy. Finally, the vision and the potential of RSE 3.0 will be discussed with the audience.
About the Speaker:
Hiro Ono is the Group Supervisor of the Robotic Mobility Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Currently, he serves as the PI of the EELS project to create a highly versatile and intelligent robot for exploring unknown environments such as Enceladus vents. As a member of the Mars 2020 Rover (M2020) Mission, he supports tactical robotic operations. Previously, he developed M2020’s autonomous driving algorithm and also led the landing site traversability analysis. His research interest is centered around the application of robotic autonomy to space exploration, with an emphasis on machine learning applications to perception, data interpretation, and risk-aware decision-making. Before joining JPL in 2013, he was an assistant professor at Keio University in Japan. He graduated from MIT with PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2012. A father of a rebellious princess and a mischievous munchkin. Go Red Sox and Hanshin Tigers.