Planetary Rovers

Professor Alex Ellery is a Canada Research Chair in Space Robotics & Space Technology in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics, MSc in Astronomy and PhD in Astronautics & Space Engineering. He is also an alumnus of the International Space University. He is a Chartered Engineer and holds Fellowships at the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was formerly at the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey where he was awarded the George Stephenson medal by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2005). He was formerly Chair of the Astrobiology Society of Britain (2005/2006).

• Introduction.- Planetary environments.- Survey of past rover missions.- Rover mobility and locomotion.- Rover sensorimotor control systems.- Rover vision—fundamentals.- Rover vision—advanced capabilities.- Autonomous navigation—behaviors and architectures.- Autonomous navigation—self-localization and mapping (SLAM).- Rover path planning.- Robotic sample acquisition.- Onboard autonomous science.- Case study: Robotic exploration of Europa.- Future rover concepts.

“It aims to be a complete overview of the design, implementation and control of planetary rovers, ranging widely from details of past rovers, through overviews of algorithm research into the process of bidding and managing projects for the European Space Agency (ESA). … it targets a wide audience from final year undergraduates to industry engineers involved with rover development – anyone involved in rover design. … I would recommend this book to anyone working or interested in the field … .” (Dr. Iain Wallace, The Aeronautical Journal, January, 2017)