Autonomous Non-wheeled all-Terrain rover (ANT)

Develop a cluttered-terrain navigation system for non-wheeled, typically legged rovers 

Wheeled rovers are the clear choice for large traverse exploration of relatively flat terrains. ESA has investigated walking rovers for several years (GSP CESAR, TERP ARAMIE and SPACEWALKER, NPI with DLR and ethz).Recent advances in leg motoring (serial-elastic actuation) make possible to overcome the issues highlighted in previous ESA work.There is potential of realising a walking rover for space use in short time.The access to cluttered areas introduces problems of 3D navigation that are still unsolved (definitely in the space context). Every step needs to be carefully thought off in view of the stability, reachability and possibility to carry on. This activity will develop a software/hardware navigation system that will allow walking robots to safely negotiate cluttered terrains. The following tasks are envisaged::The navigation shall be developed according to the AGILE software development paradigm. At least 4 SPRINTS shall be executed:1- SPRINT1 navigation in mixed-slopes terrain2- SPRINT2 navigation in flat cluttered terrain3- SPRINT3 navigation in cluttered terrain with mixed slopes4- SPRINT4 navigation in cluttered terrain with mixed slopes with load bearing issues.