The Planetary Utilisation Testbed (PUT) at the ESTEC Robotics Laboratories has been constructed to help testing robotic devices for planetary surface operations.
The testbed is composed of square 8x8 m terrain area filled with
various sizes of sand, gravel and rock. The terrain has four different areas:
a small crater
a boulder field
a sandy dune
a gravel slope area
Uses The PUTB is used for:
Evaluation of Robotics Developments carried out by ESA and
Industry for ESA
Sub-system Testing for Planetary Exploration Robotics
Public Relation Purposes
The PUTB is a major user of the lab Measurement
Systems. The motion of robots on/over the terrain can be
tracked using the RODYM system. The geometry of the terrain is
routinely acquired by means of the RIEGL laser scanner.
In the past, the testbed has been used for:
Support for development and Assessment of planetary mobile
robots locomotion strategies (PROLERO, SOLERO, EXOMADER)
Testing of payload accommodation on rovers for EuroMoon
Project Support (LRM)
Assessment of drilling techniques (MIRO)
Assessment or localisation / automatic navigation
technologies (Nanokhod, Payload Support for Planetary Exploration,
PlanetMicroCam)
Demonstration of rovers, aerobots in the course of the
ASTRA and i-SAIRAS conferences
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