The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded GMV a R&D project that aims to develop an advanced autonomous space system suitable for single or collaborative space robotic missions (orbital and surface rovers) demanding robust operations with adaptable levels of autonomy.

This system will be based on GMV’s previous experience and expertise built up under ESA’s Goal Oriented Autonomous Controller (GOAC) project, which set out to design and implement a smart controller model for space robotic missions capable of making decisions in its own right.

For this new project GMV has come up with a three-tier, hybrid architecture composed of deliberative, executive and functional layers. An additional component, the onboard controller, co-ordinates interaction between these three levels allowing mission planning to be phased in with its proper execution.

By now nobody doubts that robots can step in for astronauts in the performance of long and repetitive tasks. They could also take on activities that humans are not capable of (satellite maintenance, sample collection on planets, in-situ exploration, etc). Furthermore, deep space or astronomical missions, in which data processing can be carried out automatically, might benefit from the use of autonomous platforms.

Even outside the space arena, however, autonomous robotic systems open up a whole host of possibilities. They are now considered to be an ideal tool for carrying out monotonous, difficult and hazardous tasks in industry too. The big oil and gas companies are showing an increasing interest in smart rovers for inspecting and monitoring their industrial plants and reacting appropriately to unforeseen events such as gas leaks. Nuclear accidents like Fukushima have even shown the usefulness of robots for accessing radioactive areas.

It is therefore confidently expected that GMV’s results under this project will have spinoff applications in other, non-space robotic scenarios involving complex and difficult tasks of similar hazardousness or difficulty of access, such as industrial plant, critical infrastructure, underground operations, underwater operations or radioactive areas.