Robot Path Planner
Per-Robot Path Planner with Obstacle Avoidance
The per-robot path planner is an autonomous navigation software module stored on radiation-hardened NOR flash that computes energy-efficient surface routes with real-time obstacle avoidance. Operating at one watt of power with a 500-millisecond replanning latency, it evaluates terrain slope, distance, and energy expenditure using A* and RRT* algorithms derived from NASA AutoNav heritage. Lunar surface mobility requires continuous trajectory adaptation across hazardous slopes without terrestrial intervention, while unshielded cosmic radiation necessitates execution from hardened memory to sustain a 20-year operational lifetime across cooperative hauler fleets.
Per-robot path planner generating safe, energy-efficient traversal paths with real-time obstacle avoidance.
Purpose
Per-robot path planner generating safe, energy-efficient traversal paths with real-time obstacle avoidance.
Context
Child of L2-ROB-NAV within the Lunar Ark system
Principles
- ▸A* / RRT* path planning
- ▸Cost function: distance + slope + energy
- ▸Real-time obstacle avoidance via local replanning
- ▸Coordination with L3-ISR-CTRL-SCHED
- ▸Per L3-NAV-MAP-PLAN methodology
Typical implementations
- ▸ROS Navigation Stack
- ▸NASA AutoNav heritage
- ▸Multi-robot Cooperation (Frontiers Robotics 2023)
Lunar considerations
- ▸Long-mission ML-augmented planning
- ▸Cooperative routing with hauler fleet
- ▸Authenticated updates
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Per-robot path planner generating safe, energy-efficient traversal paths with real-time obstacle avoidance. |
| replan time ms | 500 |
Physical
| mass kg | 0 |
| materials | Code on rad-hard NOR flash |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 1 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 20 |
| mtbf hours | 200000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- Path plans
- Route requests
Requires
- Pose input
- DEM input
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Robot Path Planner" (L3-ROB-NAV-PATH). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-ROB-NAV-PATH
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.