Towards Autonomous Mars Rover Localization: Operations in 2003 Mer Mission and New Developments for Future Missions

During the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, onboard rover localization has been performed primarily by IMU, wheelodometry, and sun-sensing technologies. In cases where the rover experiences slippage caused by traversing loose soil or steep slopes, particularly in a crater, the onboard visual odometry (VO) technique is applied. A bundle adjustment (BA) method has been performed on Earth to achieve a high-accuracy solution of rover positions by building and adjusting an image network containing all panoramas and traversing images along the entire traverse. An innovative method has been developed to automate cross-site tiepoint selection so that BA-based rover localization can be performed autonomously onboard the rover. Recent results of MER mission operations and field test results are reviewed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this autonomous rover localization technology. * Corresponding author.