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1. EXO MARS PanCam 3D Vision

3D Vision for Panoramic Camera of ESA ExoMars mission 2016

Description

ESA's ExoMars Rover Mission is scheduled for launch 2016 and landing on the Red Planet in 2017 to search for signs of past and present life on Mars. One important scientific sensor is a panoramic imaging system (PanCam), mounted on the Rover Mast. It consists of a wide angle multispectral stereo pair and a high resolution monoscopic camera. Main objectives during its six months operational phase are the provision of context information to detect, locate and measure potential scientifically interesting targets, localize the landing site, geologically characterize the local environment, and observe experiments.

Three dimensional (3D) PanCam vision processing is an essential component of mission planning and scientific data analysis. Standard ground vision processing products will be digital terrain maps, panoramas, and virtual views of the environment. Such processing is currently developed by the PanCam 3D Vision Team under Joanneum Research coordination with background coming from the Mars Netlander Panoramic Camera (DLR) and the Beagle 2 camera system (MSSL, JR, and Univ. Wales).

After landing in 2017 the resulting software tools and their processing products will be used by geologists, exobiologists and mission engineers to decide upon experiments, select scientifically interesting sites for the rover, and determine risks, resource costs and a priori success probability of vehicle operations: PanCam 3D vision is a key element of ExoMars mission success.

Partners

Joanneum Research (JR), Institute of Digital Image Processing, Gerhard Paar

Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College London, Dr. Andrew Coates.

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Institute of Planetary Research, Prof. Ralf Jaumann

Aberystwyth University, Department of Computer Science, Dr. Dave Barnes

Funding

FFG/BMVIT Austrian Space Applications Programme (ASAP 4) & JOANNEUM RESEARCH

Merging 10 stereo reconstructions of MER Opportunity (ExoMars PanCam 3D Vision Team)

2. Aerobots Navigation & Mapping

Description

The primary objective of this ESA Study was to investigate the viability of aerial robots (aerobots) for planetary exploration. The consortium consisted of SciSys (prime) in cooperation with Joanneum Research and Aberystwyth University designed, developed and prototyped an Imaging and Localisation Package (ILP) for a free-flying Martian balloon. Aerobot technology could transform the way planets are explored combining the close-surface proximity of a rover with the large-area visibility of an orbiter. Drifting in the planetary winds aerobots have the potential to investigate tens of kilometres in relatively short periods of time. An ILP package will allow optimal acquisition of images to reconstruct accurate models of the surface of the explored planet and accurate localisation of the balloon with respect to the Martian surface. The ILP, by means of aerobot mounted camera and computer vision techniques successfully demonstrated the following components:

acquire and store images of the surface at various resolutions
construct and update a 3D model (DEM) of the surface (main JR task)
constantly estimate the position of the aerobot as well as its motion with respect to the surface
decide on the base of the communications budget, of the morphology of the surface and of the scientific information content the importance of the images, which images at which resolution/compression need to be transmitted to Earth.