View source for NASA X-Hab 2026: Autonomous Rover Charging for Planetary Surfaces

''This project proposal was submitted to NASA but not selected for funding. It was not continued past the proposal stage.''

<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>In 2025, the [[Main Page|Aurora Robotics Lab]] at the [https://www.uaf.edu/uaf/ University of Alaska Fairbanks] proposed an autonomous rover charging system for the [https://spacegrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/M2M-X-Hab-Challenge-Solicitation-2026.pdf NASA 2026 Moon to Mars X-Hab Academic Innovation Challenge]. The project aimed to develop a robust, dust-tolerant, metal-to-metal charging interface for planetary rovers on the Moon or Mars. The system would have enabled fully autonomous docking and recharging, with goals of 1kW continuous power delivery and tolerance to lunar/Martian dust and misalignment.</p>

<h2>Project Vision</h2>
<ul>
  <li><strong>Vision:</strong> Enable autonomous rovers to operate persistently across planetary surfaces by removing human dependence for recharging.</li>
  <li><strong>Mission:</strong> Design a reliable, ambidextrous, high-power charging interface for autonomous robots.</li>
</ul>

<h2>System Concept</h2>
<p>The proposed system included:</p>
<ul>
  <li>A charging station with spring-loaded metal contacts and visual fiducial markers (e.g., AprilTags).</li>
  <li>A rover with vision-based alignment and mechanical docking capability.</li>
  <li>Metal-to-metal couplers designed for low resistance, dust tolerance, and mechanical repeatability (target: 1000+ cycles).</li>
</ul>
<p>The proposal considered dust immersion, electrical arcing, and wear, bringing forward advantages over inductive methods in efficiency and power density.</p>

<h2>Legacy and Prior Work</h2>
<p>This proposal built on earlier work by Aurora Robotics, including:</p>
<ul>
  <li><strong>[[LAYLA Robot Charger|LAYLA Charger (2014–2020)]]:</strong> A magnetic drive-up robot charging box used in multi-year tests.</li>
  <li><strong>[[Project Archives|NASA Break the Ice (2020–2023)]]:</strong> Semi-autonomous mining robot development and tool coupler research.</li>
  <li><strong>[[NASA X-Hab 2025: Modular Robotic Construction|X-Hab 2025 Project]]:</strong> Modular robotic construction using self-aligning steel L-Trusses and the [[Excahauler]] robot.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Outcome</h2>
<p>'''The proposal was not accepted for X-Hab 2026 funding''', and no further work was pursued on this project. However, the autonomous charging concept remains of interest for future lunar operations and research efforts.</p>

<h2>Proposed Team</h2>
<ul>
  <li><strong>PI:</strong> Dr. Orion Lawlor</li>
  <li><strong>Lead Student:</strong> Andrew Mattson (CS BS/MS)</li>
  <li>'''Team Members:'''
<li>Elliott Madsen (ME BS)</li><li>Delano Horner (ME BS)</li><li>Kory Lamme (ME BS)</li><li>Allison Bergt (CS BS)</li><li>Artyom Kesler (CS BS)</li><li>Brandon Kallenback (CE BS).  </li></li>
</ul>