Development of Autonomous Actions to Enable the Next Decade of Ocean World Exploration Article Swipe

The development of autonomous actions aboard surface systems is of great value to the exploration of ocean worlds, and the in situ exploration of much of our solar system.The ability of landers to operate with more autonomy than current landers and rovers will enable more and better science, with an overall reduction in cost for comparable missions.In this paper we identify the array of challenges that confront in situ exploration on an ocean world and how many of these challenges are, and have been, addressed (and in some cases resolved) in the early development work for NASA's Europa Lander mission concept.We identify the pathway for constructing a highly autonomous surface system that enables ocean worlds exploration across an array of targets.Our key developments include:• A system-wide architecture effort to identify the mission activities, and the onboard decisions, that will be required for time-and resource-efficient missions.This activity identifies the onboard autonomous behaviors and the necessary supporting architecture, such as the sensing required.A holistic approach to autonomy overall is the intent, including identifying computation needs, strategies for the judicious use of energy, applicability of multiple methods for sample acquisition, fault and failure reaction strategies, learning options from surface interactions, and self-calibration and assessment techniques.• A focused investigation of the autonomy related to sample acquisition, including mechanism and end-effector tool development, the development of representative algorithms for workspace assessment, sample/excavation target identification, dynamic tool use/control, and sensing needed to ascertain acquisition success.This investigation also includes adaptation based on surface interactions.• The construction of both a hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testbed and a software-plus-simulation ("SoftSim") testbed environment to enable the implementation of multiple "prototype" "systems".The testbed environments will have both the fidelity and flexibility to represent the trade space for the most challenging tasks related to autonomous functionality.• The exploration of onboard versus ground operator responsibility for mission activities.The uncertainties of the surface environment, and the influence of operators/scientists in the execution of the specific activities, deserves consideration and experimentation.The proper mix will vary with the mission target, but all are likely to need to balance the amount of science and engineering data for a given uplink or downlink opportunity to maintain a compelling operational tempo.(Europa allows a relatively low direct-to-Earth communications link for about 50% of a 86 hour europan day.) • An exploration of autonomy enabling architectural and design choices for the surface spacecraft.A surface mission with significant autonomy goals will require expanded resiliency by design, spanning from sensing and perception to alternative strategies to accomplish the required mission activities.Less visible, but still critical to autonomous behaviors, will be sufficient computation, sufficient memory and storage, and effective fault/interruption detection.Designing a system with fewer resource limitations may be the right trade to reduce the overall complexity of implementation.