Automated Targeting for the MER Rovers

The autonomous exploration for gathering increased science system (AEGIS) will soon provide automated targeting for remote sensing instruments on the Mars exploration rover (MER) mission, which currently has two rovers exploring the surface of Mars. Targets for rover remote sensing instruments, especially narrow field of view instruments (such as the MER Mini-TES spectrometer or the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission ChemCam Spectrometer), are typically selected manually based on imagery already on the ground with the operations team. AEGIS enables the rover flight software to analyze imagery onboard in order to autonomously select and sequence targeted remote sensing observations in an opportunistic fashion. In this paper, we first provide background information on the larger autonomous science framework in which AEGIS was developed. We then describe how AEGIS was specifically developed and tested on the JPL FIDO rover. Finally we discuss how AEGIS will be uploaded and used on the Mars exploration rover (MER) mission in mid 2009.