Autonomous Spot: Long-Range Autonomous Exploration of Extreme Environments with Legged Locomotion

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates long-range autonomous exploration of extreme environments using the Boston Dynamics Spot robot, integrating advanced autonomy architecture and mobility systems to perform complex real-world missions.

Contribution

It introduces the integration of NeBula autonomy architecture with next-generation mobility for large-scale, long-duration exploration in extreme environments using legged robots.

Findings

Successful real-world deployment in extreme environments

Enhanced autonomy capabilities for complex missions

Insights into hardware and software challenges and solutions

Abstract

This paper serves as one of the first efforts to enable large-scale and long-duration autonomy using the Boston Dynamics Spot robot. Motivated by exploring extreme environments, particularly those involved in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, this paper pushes the boundaries of the state-of-practice in enabling legged robotic systems to accomplish real-world complex missions in relevant scenarios. In particular, we discuss the behaviors and capabilities which emerge from the integration of the autonomy architecture NeBula (Networked Belief-aware Perceptual Autonomy) with next-generation mobility systems. We will discuss the hardware and software challenges, and solutions in mobility, perception, autonomy, and very briefly, wireless networking, as well as lessons learned and future directions. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed solutions on physical systems in real-world scenarios.