LiDAR-Based Autonomous Landing on Asteroids

Fly4Future drone solution contributed significantly to the successful development and testing of an innovative UAV emulation system aimed at advancing Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) and autonomous guidance algorithms for spacecraft landing on asteroids. This system, demonstrated through a flight campaign, implemented and tested a LiDAR-based odometry navigation and hazard detection system focusing on a new asteroid analogue environment. Inspired by NASA’s MAVeN algorithm, the TRN algorithms integrated Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithms and LiDAR range measurements. A Linear Kalman Filter (LKF) handled the sensor fusion, taking into account spacecraft control and asteroid environmental forces.

The emulation platform is set up upon the Fly4Future custom hexa-multicopter based on a Tarot T18 frame. Its nominal payload amounts to around 10kg with a flight duration up to 20-30 minutes and is equiped with the Pixhawk4 flight controller, PX4 software, and an Intel NUC i7 running MRS-UAV-System by Czech Technical University Prague (MRS) ensure precise flight control.

As planetary missions to asteroids become increasingly relevant, Fly4Future’s contributions are critical to ensuring the success of spacecraft landings on these celestial bodies, thereby advancing our understanding of the composition of the solar system and potential economic opportunities.

Full publication here: LiDAR-Based Autonomous Landing on Asteroids: Algorithms, Prototyping and End-to-End Testing with a UAV-Based Satellite Emulator