GMV tests lunar rover at unprecedented speeds

During the first half of July the multinational technology company GMV is conducting field tests as part of RAPID (Robust and Semi-Autonomous Platform for Increased Distances), a space robotics project run by the European Space Agency (ESA). Dry runs are being carried out in open fields in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Madrid.

As part of the RAPID project led by GMV for the European Space Agency (ESA), GMV is currently designing and developing a cutting-edge robotic platform, an autonomous rover capable of safely traversing lunar areas at an average speed of 1.1 m/s, a speed never before achieved on the surface of a distant planet by an autonomous robot, using a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system based on visual navigation, i.e. on images generated/acquired by cameras installed on the rover.

The Moon has been and continues to be the next step in human exploration. Water, along with other volatile and lunar materials such as regolith, metals, and rare earth elements (REE), present potential resources that can sustain human and robotic exploration sustainably on the Moon, the Solar System, and beyond. The lunar poles, in particular, are of great interest for exploration but present harsh environmental conditions with very low temperatures (below 30K/-243 degrees Celsius) and challenging lighting conditions.

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