Space exploratory rovers do well in autonomous or composite semi-autonomous exploration of extraterrestrial surfaces, yet their localization relies on the particular spot they had landed, rather than being universal, i.e. based on the absolute coordinate system of the explored planet. The idea underlaying the work presented in this paper is the transition from the relative to absolute localization by inspecting common Regions of Interest (ROIs) on both rover and orbital imagery. In order to achieve that we propose a method comprising an offline and an onboard procedure. Particularly, prior to the mission the orbital images of the intended landing area are examined to extract ROIs and to construct an offline Global Network (GN). The onboard procedure is based on the rover's self localization which is performed via an inertial aided visual odometry (VO). During its roaming the rover extracts ROIs from the ground and forms a Local Network (LN). The last is iteratively matched with the GN by a specifically designed matching procedure based on Data-Aligned Rigidity-Constrained Exhaustive Search (DARCES). The proposed method is tested on real representative data collected during the ESA Seeker activity. The results indicate that the self-localization of a planetary rover in an absolute frame of reference is feasible, provided that the area includes few discriminative ROIs.

Describes work on a large laboratory testbed for space robotics (Columbus Automation and Robotics Laboratory Testbed), able to execute hierarchically organized complex activities, to increase the degree of autonomy of the system. For instance, now the robotic system is able to conclude several activities, like closing a drawer or moving a sample from a location to another, without any intervention of the operator even when the subject to be manipulated is out of its locking place or is far from the expected (nominal) position of several centimetres. A set of laser distance sensors available in the end-effector has been exploited to this purpose, and suitable strategies have been developed to recover the true grasping positions. The work has been developed following a standard control development methodology which has led to the full modular integration of the additional autonomous control capabilities in the basic robot control and programming system.