MER AUTOMATED SCIENCE TARGETING ON THE ROAD TO ENDEAVOUR

The Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) system enables automated data collection by planetary rovers. AEGIS software was uploaded to the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission’s Opportunity rover in December 2009 and has successfully demonstrated automated onboard targeting based on scientist-specified objectives. Prior to AEGIS, images were transmitted from the rover to the operations team on Earth; scientists manually analyzed the images, selected geological targets for the rover’s remote-sensing instruments, and then generated a command sequence to execute the new measurements. AEGIS is a significant step towards allowing a robotic vehicle on another planet to make intelligent science choices. AEGIS software uses scientist input and onboard data analysis techniques to select high-quality science targets without requiring communication with the ground team. This approach allows the rover to autonomously select and sequence targeted observations in an opportunistic fashion, which is particularly applicable for narrow field-of-view instruments (such as the MER Panoramic camera, the MER Mini-TES spectrometer, and the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) ChemCam spectrometer). We provide an overview of the AEGIS automated targeting capability and describe how it is currently being used onboard the MER mission Opportunity rover during its trek to Endeavour Crater.