FZI wins ESA Space Challenge with ifm's O3R
· faithfulind
25 April 2023-A competition organised by the European Space Agency (ESA) is taking place between robot prototypes from industrial companies and research institutes. They require collecting and evaluating resources and simultaneously surveying and mapping in a terrain similar to that of the moon. Among them, the winning team from the FZI Information Technology Research Center has been using ifm's O3R platform in its three robots.
Autonomous robots for the moon
exploring the possibility of living on the moon is the focus of the Space Resources Challenge, jointly organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC). In this challenge, industrial companies and research institutions will develop innovative technologies to explore resources on the Moon. In the 2500-square-meter hall with lunar-like terrain, various robot prototypes compete fiercely. One of the international teams that reached the finals of the Challenge was from the FZI Information Technology Research Center. In the end, the ARISE league won the other three finals opponents. In addition to the FZI Information Technology Research Centre, the consortium includes partners from ETH Zurich and the Universities of Zurich, Basel and Bern.
FZI has many years of experience in the field of mobile robotics, including 3D navigation and environment analysis. The ifm's O3R system is one of the key components for mobile robots to self-orient. The core components of the hardware platform are edge devices that can connect up to six 3D cameras and many other sensors. The hardware foundation is a powerful Linux system equipped with NVIDIA video processing units. The robot's PC is connected via a Ethercat. With the ROS 2 driver, the system can be easily integrated into mobile applications.
The ifm offers corresponding cameras that are equipped with 3D sensors or combinations of 3D and 2D sensors with different aperture angles and resolutions. Based on this information, the mobile robot can orient itself in an unknown environment and complete tasks such as collecting rock samples.