![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2015\/12\/rover_on_katwijk_beach\/15708594-1-eng-GB\/Rover_on_Katwijk_beach_small.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nAn array of strange, sharp-edged rocks appeared suddenly on a sandy beach near ESA\u2019s technical centre as part of an ambitious test of robotic rover technology.\n<\/p>\n
\nRovers for Mars and other destinations will operate much too far from Earth for direct teleoperation to be feasible. Instead, some level of automation is essential.\n<\/p>\n
\nKatwijk beach, close to ESA\u2019s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, was chosen to test two new sets of software for rover navigation.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBoth software routines rely on the presence of landmark features,\u201d explains Martin Azkarate of ESA\u2019s Planetary Robotics Laboratory<\/a>. \u201cThe problem is that this flat, sandy North Sea beach doesn\u2019t normally have any.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo we added 212 cardboard \u2018rocks\u2019 for our testbed rover to navigate around.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe new software was developed by research students Evangelos Boukas and Rob Hewitt working through ESA\u2019s Networking\/Partnering Initiative<\/a>, which supports spin-in applications of advanced technology for space.\n<\/p>\n \nOne software set matches landmarks on the ground to images acquired from orbit \u2013 in this case, an overhead drone. The other applies lidar \u2013 the laser equivalent of radar \u2013 to help track the rover\u2019s motion.\n<\/p>\n \nThe test drives took place last Thursday, 26 November, with all the rocks retrieved after the testing was over.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPrevious rover tests have ranged as far as the Canary Islands and Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert,\u201d adds Martin. \u201cBut Katwijk beach has the advantage of being a lot closer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nAn array of strange, sharp-edged rocks appeared suddenly on a sandy beach near ESA’s technical centre as part of an ambitious test of robotic rover technology.\n<\/p>\n \nRovers for Mars and other destinations will operate much too far from Earth for direct teleoperation to be feasible. Instead, some level of automation is essential.\n<\/p>\n \nKatwijk beach, close to ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, was chosen to test two new sets of software for rover navigation.\n<\/p>\n \n“Both software routines rely on the presence of landmark features,” explains Martin Azkarate of ESA’s Planetary Robotics Laboratory<\/a>. “The problem is that this flat, sandy North Sea beach doesn’t normally have any.\n<\/p>\n \n“So we added 212 cardboard ‘rocks’ for our testbed rover to navigate around.”\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n