Aerospace Robotics Lab Simulates the Moon to Advance Next-Gen Space Robotics Research

Yashwanth Nakka has created a laboratory simulating the lunar surface at Georgia Tech. He transported seven tons of basalt rock to the Aerospace Robotics Lab to replicate the moon's appearance and texture. The facility features dark black walls and a bright light that mimics the sun's glare, making it the only lab of its kind in a university setting. Researchers can examine how rovers perceive terrain under varying sunlight and move across surfaces prone to trapping wheels. Nakka is working on control systems that enable rovers to operate without human input. Lighting conditions can distort camera images, and algorithms must account for these environmental variations, he said. The lab employs gem sized basalt rocks rather than fine regolith to permit realistic granular terrain studies without special protective equipment. Robots encounter the same shifts and movements as they would in moondust. The team is also building shape changing robots capable of accessing lunar vents and caves, drawing from Nakka's prior work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nakka said effective algorithms require studying how a vehicle interacts with terrain and incorporating surface to wheel contact data in real time. His vision centers on a rover that understands its environmental context and internal state, including resource recognition. This level of autonomous awareness is expected to require approximately a decade.