Overview

The NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) explores extreme environments, remote locations, and uncharted worlds. To do this, we conduct applied research in a wide range of areas including computer vision, geospatial data systems, human-robot interaction, interactive 3D visualization, and robot software architecture. (IRG brochure)

Our recent accomplishments include: The Moon In Google Earth, the Robotic Recon Field Test, and the GigaPan (video NEW!!) robotic camera.

IRG operates numerous mobile robots, including the "K10" series of planetary rovers (Fact Sheet). Since 1993, we have regularly conducted robotic field tests in lunar and Mars analog sites, such as Haughton Crater (video), Canada and Black Point Lava Flow, (video NEW!!), Arizona.

We firmly believe that collaboration is essential to conducting high-quality research. Thus, we actively encourage joint projects with academia, government, and industry. If you are interested in collaborating, or have an application that can benefit from our technology, please contact us today.

Project List (Active)

Athlete Footfall Planning
Project Lead: Dawn Wheeler
We are developing a planning system to enable JPL’s ATHLETE robot to walk on natural terrain. Our system processes images from robot cameras into 3D terrain models, which are analyzed for walking. A 3D user interface and motion planner enables remote operators to plan and visualize robot steps.

GeoCam
Project Lead: Trey Smith
The GeoCam project helps people better understand and respond to disasters. GeoCam consists of a GPS-enabled camera (or cell-phone) and a “live” geospatial workflow. Disaster responders have used GeoCam for urban search and rescue exercises and on-site at a major wildfire.

GigaPan
Project Lead: Randy Sargent
GigaPan makes creating billion-pixel panoramas easy to do. The low-cost GigaPan robotic camera mount captures hundreds of images, which are combined into interactive panoramas. These panoramas have a myriad of uses including discovery, education, entertainment, and science.
+ Visit GigaPan

Ground Data System
Project Lead: Dave Lees
IRG’s ground data system (GDS) provides software tools to plan robot activities, monitor task execution, log robot telemetry, archive science data, and visualize a wide range of information. The GDS makes use of the NASA Ensemble framework, Web interfaces and geospatial data browsers.

Human-Robotic Systems
Project Lead: Terry Fong
We are field-testing robots to understand how they can be used to improve human productivity and science return. When humans return to the Moon, crews will initially be on the surface less than 10% of the time. Robots can perform work even when humans are not present, including reconnaissance, survey, and inspection. Field tests: 2007, 2009.

Lunar Mapping and Modeling
Project Lead: Michael Broxton
NASA’s goal of returning humans to the Moon has led to renewed interest in lunar data sets and lunar science. Our work involves processing on an unprecedented scale, using terabytes of data acquired by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and newly processed Apollo camera images.

NASA Vision Workbench
Project Lead: Mike Lundy
The NASA Vision Workbench (VW) is an open-source C++ framework for efficient computer vision. Vision Workbench has been used to create gigapixel panoramas, 3D terrain models from satellite images, and high-dynamic range images for visual inspection.
+ Visit NASA Vision Workbench

Neo-Geography Toolkit
Project Lead: Terry Fong
The Neo-Geography Toolkit (NGT) is a suite of automated processing tools for geospatial data. NGT can transform raster/vector data, metadata and geo-tagged data into a variety of formats including KML. NGT is highly scalable and can process multi-terabyte data sets.
+ Visit Neo-Geography Toolkit

Pipeline Threat Detection
Project Lead: Xavier Bouyssounouse
The Pipeline Threat Detection project develops algorithms to automatically detect heavy digging equipment near oil and gas pipelines. Data from multiple sensors are analyzed with computer vision and machine learning. Improving threat detection will help reduce the risk and cost of pipeline damage.

Planetary Content
Project Lead: Michael Broxton
The Planetary Content project makes NASA's vast stores of planetary data more accessible and useful through Web-enabled tools. In collaboration with Google and other NASA centers, Planetary Content has produced The Moon in Google Earth, Google Mars 3D, Google Moon (2D maps), and the NASA Gallery in Google Earth.
+ Visit Planetary Content

Rover Software System
Project Lead: Hans Utz
IRG’s rover software system is a service-oriented architecture that encapsulates robot functions (locomotion, navigation, localization, instrument control, etc.) as self-contained computing services. With this approach, robotic applications can be built as a collection of on-demand services.

Science Operations for Robots
Project Lead: Matthew Deans
To understand how best to integrate ground-based “backroom” teams into lunar surface operations, we are developing a new ground control team structure and operational protocols. We are testing the ground control with planetary scientists and the NASA JSC Mission Operations Directorate.

Terrain Reconstruction
Project Lead: Ara Nefian
Digital terrain models have long been essential for science analysis, mission planning and mission operations. We have developed the Ames Stereo Pipeline to generate and mosaick high-quality topographic models automatically from 3D range data (stereo images, LIDAR scans, etc.)

Viz
Project Lead: Susan Lee
Viz is a data visualization tool that provides scientists, robot operators, and mission planners with powerful, interactive 3D displays of remote environments. Viz was originally developed for Mars Polar Lander (2001), and has been used for the Mars Exploration Rover (2003) and the Phoenix Lander (2008).

Project List (Inactive)

3D Surface Reconstruction for the Context Imager (CTX)
Project Lead: Laurence Edwards
Martian surface models created from imagery by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Imager.

Arm Lab
Project Lead: Vytas SunSpiral
Tools and techniques for mobile and non-prehensile manipulation.

Astrobiology machine Vision Toolkit (AMVT)
Project Lead: Matthew Deans
AMVT was a set of computer vision tools used in geological and exobiological research.

Communications Relay Deployment
Project Lead: Estrellina Pacis
Automatically deploy Wi-Fi relays from a mobile robot to extend a data network. Collaboration with SPAWAR.

Dark Navigation
Project Lead: Liam Pedersen
This system enabled safeguarded remote driving under lunar crater relevant conditions.

Haughton Crater Site Survey Field Test
Project Lead: Terry Fong
A field test of a robotic survey system at a lunar analog site.
+ Visit Haughton Crater Site Survey Field Test

Hydrogen Resource Prospecting
Project Lead: Linda Kobayashi
Search for subsurface hydrates using the HYDRA neutron spectrometer on a K10 rover. Collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Mercator
Project Lead: Leslie Keely
Interactive 3D user interface for exploration visualization. Used for the Mars Phoenix mission.

Multi-robot Site Survey
Project Lead: Terry Fong
The goal of this project was to develop robust human-robot techniques for site surveying and sampling.

Peer-to-Peer Human-Robot Interaction
Project Lead: Terry Fong
Development of techniques for improving task coordination and collaboration between human and robot partners.

Percussive Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (PDCP)
Project Lead: Susan Lee
Collaboration with Honeybee Robotics to develop a robot-mounted instrument for making geotechnical measurements.

Robonaut Visualization
Project Lead: Mark Allan
Real-time 3D display of health, status, and kinematic configuration of the JSC Robonaut robot.

Single-Cycle Instrument Placement
Project Lead: Liam Pedersen
Techniques enabling a rover to visit and examine multiple targets in a single command cycle without supervision from mission control.

Wireless Communications Mapping
Project Lead: Vinh To
Systematically map Wi-Fi network coverage using a mobile robot to identify dead zones and coverage quality at an outdoor site.