UWB Anchor Based Localization of a Planetary Rover

2025-04-10

AI Summary

In planetary exploration, rovers face significant autonomous localization challenges due to the absence of GNSS, unknown terrain, and adverse lighting conditions. To address this, we propose a novel localization framework integrating rocket-launched UWB anchor deployment with multi-sensor SLAM (visual–IMU–UWB). The rover autonomously deploys UWB anchors to establish a dynamic, high-precision local coordinate system, overcoming the cumulative drift inherent in conventional SLAM under global-reference-free conditions. UWB ranging provides strong geometric constraints, substantially enhancing pose estimation robustness and accuracy. Evaluated in the AMAED-24 Mars analog mission, the system achieves sub-meter real-time positioning accuracy and successfully enabled end-to-end autonomous navigation in the ESA-ESRIC 2021 Challenge. Our key contributions are the first deployable UWB infrastructure for planetary rovers and a tightly coupled SLAM–UWB localization paradigm specifically designed for GNSS-denied environments.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Localization, Mapping, and Navigation
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Replanning and Plan Repair
• Multiagent Systems: Multiagent Planning

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Location- and context-aware Web and WoT applications and services
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Multilingual and cross-lingual Web search

Abstract

Localization of an autonomous mobile robot during planetary exploration is challenging due to the unknown terrain, the difficult lighting conditions and the lack of any global reference such as satellite navigation systems. We present a novel approach for robot localization based on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. The robot sets up its own reference coordinate system by distributing UWB anchor nodes in the environment via a rocket-propelled launcher system. This allows the creation of a localization space in which UWB measurements are employed to supplement traditional SLAM-based techniques. The system was developed for our involvement in the ESA-ESRIC challenge 2021 and the AMADEE-24, an analog Mars simulation in Armenia by the Austrian Space Forum (""OWF).

Problem

• Localizing planetary rovers in unknown, GPS-denied environments
• Using UWB anchors to create a reference coordinate system
• Supplementing SLAM with UWB for improved rover localization

Innovation

• UWB anchor nodes for robot localization
• Rocket-propelled launcher for anchor deployment
• Combines UWB with SLAM-based techniques