Tether tracking and control of ROSA robotic rover

Mars is currently the centre of interest for space exploration. Tremendous efforts are still in progress to find clues of existence of life on Mars. Rovers are major sources of information of Mars. This paper focuses on a robotic roving vehicle robot for scientific applications (ROSA) having its initiative of European Space Agency (ESA). ROSA being a tethered rover makes possible to reduce the weight/size of rover because power is delivered through tether. Additionally, tether provides communication lines between the lander and the rover. Tethered robots require complex control system. This paper presents a specialized tracking system for rover´s 40 m tether. The proposed system is capable of tether tracking within resolution of plusmn6 cm. The same strategy can also be used in other tethered robots for rescue, security, underwater, mines hunting and cleaning petroleum tanks after minor modifications.