Hazard Detection LiDAR System for Robotic Lunar Landers: Flight Test Results

Abstract

In preparation for enabling safe and precise landing for lunar missions, Astrobotic’s hazard detection (HD) LiDAR sensor system was flight tested at various locations in the Mojave Desert and at a lunar analog test site. The engineering model HD sensor, consisting of a scanning LiDAR and a high-performance compute element running Astrobotic’s HD flight software, flew on a helicopter along with other GNC sensors, the primary flight computer, and ground truth instrumentation over ten days. Preliminary results from this flight test campaign are described here. Over forty scans and more than 15 GB of point cloud data were collected across multiple trajectory profiles and sites. Motion compensation, hazard mapping, and safe site selection were successfully demonstrated onboard in a flight-like context.