Arkaroola task specifications

Phase I – NIST standardised Tests.

(selections adapted from Standard Test Methods For Response Robots (NIST, 2011)).

1. Logistics: Robot Test Config and Cache Packing (p18) Essentially, this is a careful record of the robots specifications, including size, weight, photographs against a calibrated background for it’s configuration(s). Also details and photographs of the shipping arrangements, packing boxes or crates, and any tools needed to operate the machine.
   
2. Energy/Power: Endurance: Terrains: Pitch/Roll Ramps (p22) Using the 7.2 x 2.4m test rig with wooden pitch/roll ramps, the robot is endurance tested in a series of figure-8 loops. Battery levels are monitored to estimate power consumption. (NB Omit steps 5 & 6 – too difficult in the field)
   
3. Mobility: Terrains: Flat/Paved Surfaces (100m) (p24) The robot is speed tested in a series of figure-8 loops on a 50m flat roadway. (NB Requires 50m of flat roadway)
   
4. Mobility: Terrains: Continuous Pitch/Roll Ramps (15°) (p26) Using the 7.2 x 2.4m test rig with wooden pitch/roll ramps, the robot is speed tested in a series of figure-8 loops.
   
5. Mobility: Towing: Grasped Sleds (100m) (p42) The robot is required to drag a sled loaded with increasing weights in a series of figure-8 loops on a 50m flat roadway. (NB Requires 50m of flat roadway).
   
6. Radio Comms:Line-Of-Sight Environments (p44) The robot’s radio communications are tested for motion control and visual data on a series of visual target/obstacles laid out along a flat road. (NB Requires flat roadway several hundred meters in length)
   
7. Sensors:Video: Acuity Charts & Field of View Measures (p66) Using the 7.2 x 2.4m test rig, the robot’s visual capabilities are tested by having the robot identify standard visual targets and calibration lines inside the rig.
   
8. Sensors: Video: Directed Search Tasks (Detailed) (p68) Using the 7.2 x 2.4m test rig, the robot’s visual search capabilities are tested by having the robot find and identify visual targets inside the rig.
   

Since we will have at least one UAV at the event, we can also include
9. Aerial: sUAS (Group 1) VTOL Endurance (p76) The endurance and visual capabilities of the UAV are evaluated in a series of repetitions hovering 2m away from a series of five visual targets on a vertical surface, and identifying each target. (NB This requires laying out large visual targets on a vertical surface at least 7m high and 5m wide. It might not be easy to find such a wall, cliff or tree at Arkaroola.)

Phase II – Operational: Simulated Mars Surface Support Operations.

(Some tasks adapted from those in the TMS 2014 University Rover Challenge)

1. Irregular Terrain Traversal. Successful completion of a test course across challenging natural terrain at ranges of not greater than 500m from control station, through a series of 4 gates, consisting of pairs of high visibility plastic pylons 1050mm high placed at least 2m apart. The terrain could involve steep inclines, large boulders and other difficult obstacles. Operators will be given the GPS coordinates of the gates and will be allowed to walk the course before the trial. Operators must depend only on vision or telemetry from their robots and not on direct observations of their machine, so they will be required to operate behind a visual barrier. Operators will have up to 60 minutes to complete the course. The traversal of the course will be timed and there are penalties for missing or avoiding gates. Experimenters will assess performance in terms of time to complete, number of gates passed successfully and performance in uneven or broken terrain.
   
2. Sample Return/Site Imaging. Without knowing the specifications of the participating robots in advance (or being able to prescribe them) it is difficult to plan tests which will be both achievable and allow designers to show the best features of their machines. Therefore we will have a pair of possible tests here: one for machines with a sample capture capability of some kind, and one for those that can only capture sensor data or images from a given worksite. In the sample return, for robots with arms or manipulators, the operator is given the coordinates of a visually distinctive (coloured) small target (weight ~ 100g) within 500m which the machine must fetch and return to a start position. Before collecting the sample they should if possible also place a geologist’s photographic scale nearby and photograph the context). In the site imageing task, the machine must locate the site and take a good set of context photographs without placing the scale or retrieving the sample rock, then return to the start position.
   
3. Locate and Resupply Fallen Astronaut. For a compelling and realistic operational test, the robot must transport a small emergency kit (weight ~1kg) to a fallen astronaut, the location of which is only approximately known within a square approximately 50m x 50m. GPS coordinates of the boundaries of this square, which will be within 500m of the control point, will be provided. The astronaut will be represented by a (empty) Marskin suit and helmet and will not be specially signposted. Machines will be evaluated in terms of their speed to locate the fallen astronaut without losing the package. For those of you bringing robots, you might care to consider how your robot will deal with these tests, and I encourage everyone to ready their robots to show off their best performance!