Date of Award

5-2012

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Physics

Advisor/Committee Chair

Kevin H. Knuth

Abstract

A 2009 NASA SBIR grant awarded to Autonomous Exploration, Inc., was partially used to fund students at the University at Albany to help research whether autonomous navigation systems can be prepared at a much lower cost than is currently being done. Expensive and bulky sensors (the basis of current-generation navigation systems) can be avoided by using commercially available low-cost sensors; the disadvantages of these low-cost sensors can be eluded by using novel data-processing techniques such as Bayesian analysis. Integration of these methods can lead to low-cost navigation systems, and hence, rovers. Potential applications include extra-planetary surface exploration as well as military deployment in situations where, at present, compulsory human supervision wastes expensive resources.

Included in

Physics Commons

Share

COinS