Fuzzy rule-based reasoning for rover safety and survivability

Operational safety and health monitoring are critical matters for autonomous field mobile robots such as planetary rovers operating on challenging terrain. The paper describes relevant rover safety and health issues and presents an approach to maintaining vehicle safety in a navigational context. The proposed rover safety module is composed of two distinct components: safe attitude (pitch and roll) management and safe traction management. Fuzzy logic approaches to reasoning about safe attitude and traction management are presented, wherein sensing of safety status and perception of terrain quality are used to infer safe speeds of traversal. Results of field tests and laboratory experiments are also described. The approach provides an intrinsic safety cognizance and a capacity for reactive mitigation of navigation risks.