To Mars Via the’Shoe
Future space missions to Mars could give us much better pictures of the red planet due to professor Rongxing (Ron) Li’s work on a new camera system that increases the speed and quality of panoramic imaging.
Li, professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science, and his research team have been working on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission and recently joined the European Space Agency mission ExoMars, which will launch a Mars mission with a rover of its own in 2013. Li will work on the science team for the PanCam instrument, which will let the ExoMars rover take 3-D panoramas of the red planet.
Li’s new camera system, Mars Panoramic Scanner, can scan the horizon and form a full 360-degree panorama in 220 seconds. In addition to helping the rovers find their way on the surface of the planet, accurate 3-D photogrammetric measurements using two stereo panoramas can be performed to locate obstacles and to assist scientists in analyzing the planet’s geological surface.
To test the new system’s capabilities, Li’s team captured a 360-degree image of Ohio Stadium, a portion of which is included as the center page spread of this 80th anniversary issue of News in Engineering
Li’s system solves numerous existing problems. To obtain a full panoramic view of a large site (e.g., a Martian crater), current cameras used by the rovers take, for example, 75 frame images, a procedure that can take several sols (Martian days). The panorama is then generated by stitching togetherthese 75 images, a process that takes a large amount of effort and time.
Because these images are taken at different intervals, they have different image quality characteristics. For example, some photos might be taken with different sun angles. Such inconsistencies limit the range and area that the rover can explore, as well as the rover’s capabilities for onboard data processing and real-time localization.
As a means of precisely calibrating this and other camera systems, a new Camera Calibration Facility has been established at Ohio State’s Mapping and GIS Laboratory. In an example of industry collaboration at the college, Adam Long of EMH&T and Shawn Spencer of Precision Laser&Instrument Inc. helped the lab with precision measurements of a large number of 3-D calibration targets using an advanced robotic total station.
Further development of the system will include multi-spectral bands, particularly shortwave infrared bands that are important for finding potentially habitable sites on Mars.
Although the system was originally intended for Mars exploration, it shows great promise for lunar exploration and use on Earth, for example, in 3-D modeling for virtual reality, landscape mapping, environmental monitoring, cultural heritage documentation and fast data capture for Internet Web-based navigation.
Beyond the Red Planet
In April, professor Ron Li received a $1.2 million grant from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, a NASA-supported organization, for a project to help astronauts overcome disorientation that they can experience in lunar surface operations due to microgravity and other factors. The Lunar Astronaut Spatial Orientation and Information System will remove or alleviate that disorientation by using imaging, mapping and sensor technology as well as psychological and cognitive research on spatial orientation and navigation. This information can be delivered to the astronauts through a liquid-crystal display (LCD) touch screen with a specially designed intuitive interface. Related computer servers may be on the lunar lander, outposts and/or the Earth-based control center.
Other Ohio State representatives helping Li with the project are Kaichang Di, research scientist, Mapping and GIS Laboratory, and Alper Yilmaz, assistant professor, Photogrammetric Computer Vision Laboratory, in addition to co-investigators and participants from MIT, University of California Berkeley and NASA Glenn Research Center.
Li, the college’s Lowber B. Strange Professor and director of the Mapping and GIS Laboratory, also is one of 24 scientists selected by NASA to participate in research related to a new moon exploration mission, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Scheduled for launch in October, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter represents NASA’s first step toward returning humans to the moon. Li and other selected scientists will initiate new investigations and assist with planned measurements to be conducted by the orbiter to identify future robotic and human landing sites and study lunar resources and how the moon’s environment will affect humans.
Li’s role specifically will be the integration of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter Data for Precision Lunar Topographic Mapping and Landing Sites Assessment.
For more details on the lunar mission, visit nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=LUNARRO .
