In FASTER, a European consortium of six partners from four member states develops concepts and a demonstrator for an efficient in-situ acquisition of soil and terrain properties of the planned trajectory of a planetary exploration rover. This information will allow computing more reliable and exact trafficability estimations. It will help to make a planetary rover move faster and with less risk of being stuck in unexpected obstacles (like regions of soft sand). The main technical components of the FASTER system will be a light-weight portable soil sensor and a small all-terrain scout rover.
Partners
University of Surrey, UK Astrium UK, UK Space Application Services, BE Liquifer GmbH., AU Astri Polska, PL
