Towards autonomous lunar navigation for in-situ resource utilization

Work from the student team Illinois Kingfishers participating in the Lunar Autonomy Challenge (LAC) is presented. The team was formed by students in the Human-Centered Autonomy Lab (HCAL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Teams in the LAC created an autonomous system to guide a lunar mining robot and map the Moon’s surface elevation. It was performed entirely on software in a custom simulator. This thesis provides a background on the competition, Illinois Kingfisher’s work during it, and further researching after the event ended. The team explored much about integrating robotic systems, computer vision algorithms, and localization methods.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Cox, Joshua

Contributors dc:contributor

• Driggs-Campbell, Katherine
• Yim, Justin

• in-situ resource utilization
• isru
• robotics
• rover
• navigation
• path planning
• localization
• mapping
• lunar rover
• ISRU Pilot Excavator
• IPEx
• Lunar Autonomy Challenge
• exploration robotics
• lunar mapping

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Joshua Cox

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132591

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132591