{"ID":2869411,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15062","arxiv_id":"2509.15062","title":"Energy-Constrained Navigation for Planetary Rovers under Hybrid RTG-Solar Power","abstract":"Future planetary exploration rovers must operate for extended durations on hybrid power inputs that combine steady radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) output with variable solar photovoltaic (PV) availability. While energy-aware planning has been studied for aerial and underwater robots under battery limits, few works for ground rovers explicitly model power flow or enforce instantaneous power constraints. Classical terrain-aware planners emphasize slope or traversability, and trajectory optimization methods typically focus on geometric smoothness and dynamic feasibility, neglecting energy feasibility. We present an energy-constrained trajectory planning framework that explicitly integrates physics-based models of translational, rotational, and resistive power with baseline subsystem loads, under hybrid RTG-solar input. By incorporating both cumulative energy budgets and instantaneous power constraints into SE(2)-based polynomial trajectory optimization, the method ensures trajectories that are simultaneously smooth, dynamically feasible, and power-compliant. Simulation results on lunar-like terrain show that our planner generates trajectories with peak power within 0.55 percent of the prescribed limit, while existing methods exceed limits by over 17 percent. This demonstrates a principled and practical approach to energy-aware autonomy for long-duration planetary missions.","short_abstract":"Future planetary exploration rovers must operate for extended durations on hybrid power inputs that combine steady radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) output with variable solar photovoltaic (PV) availability. While energy-aware planning has been studied for aerial and underwater robots under battery limits, fe...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15062","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.15062v1","authors":"[\"Tianxin Hu\",\"Weixiang Guo\",\"Ruimeng Liu\",\"Xinhang Xu\",\"Rui Qian\",\"Jinyu Chen\",\"Shenghai Yuan\",\"Lihua Xie\"]","published":"2025-09-18T15:25:56Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[\"LoRA\"]","has_code":false}