An advanced terrain modeler for an autonomous planetary rover

A roving vehicle capable of autonomously exploring the surface of an alien world is under development and an advanced terrain modeler to characterize the possible paths of the rover as hazardous or safe is presented. This advanced terrain modeler has several improvements over the Troiani modeler that include: a crosspath analysis, better determination of hazards on slopes, and methods for dealing with missing returns at the extremities of the sensor field. The results from a package of programs to simulate the roving vehicle are then examined and compared to results from the Troiani modeler.