The Sensing Subsystem of RAS

Abstract

The RAS, “Robot Antartico di Superficie”, is intended to operate in a hostile and generally unknown environment, where the ability of sensing obstacles or special features (crevasses, sastrugi, composition of the soil) can represent the key point to successfully perform the required mission or to fail: wind storms (and many other atmospheric phenomena giving rise to white out) can make useless optical sensing equipment; ice microcrystals can penetrate practically everywhere, causing failures in many components; magnetic storms can blind GPS and radio equipment.