AI and Robotics (STAR LAB)

We are the Space Technology for Autonomous and Robotic systems Laboratory (STAR LAB).

STAR LAB brochure

(3.4 MB .PDF)

Overview

We are a team of academic scholars, engineers and roboticists whose vision is to build on four decades of R&D heritage in small spacecraft engineering at University of Surrey and extend this philosophy to advance autonomous systems and robotics for space. We also look at transfer of our knowledge and technologies to terrestrial applications and to help maximise impact of our research work.

The STAR LAB became functional since 2007. We leads Surrey's involvement within the UK-RAS Network, and are an active participant and co-organiser to the UK Robotics Week. We are also the hosting research lab of the UKRI/UKSA hub on the Future AI and Robotics for Space (FAIR-SPACE). Our other international community activities include leading the IEEE-CIS Task Force on Intelligent Space Systems and Operations, UK-RAS White Paper on Space Robotics, TAROS 2017, etc.

ADCS test facility

AI robotics facilities

STAR LAB YouTube channel

International recognitions

Our Lab and its members have received many national and international recognitions including:

International Astronautical Federations (IAF) 3AF Edmond Brun Silver Medal in 2013
Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Outstanding Paper Award in 2016
First Prize of UKSEDS Lunar Rover Competition in 2017
Joint Winner of ESA SysNova Challenge on Lunar CubSat Exploration in 2018
Finalist of IEEE/ASME's AIM Best Paper Award in 2019
Top 3 worldwide of ESA/Stanford Pose Estimation Challenge in 2019
First Prize of Best Poster Award at IEEE-ICRA Space Robotics Workshop in 2020.
First Prize of 14th Sino-UK Entrepreneuship Competition in 2022, etc.

Research highlights

Image of a satellite in space, with the earth beneath it

22 NOV 2021

Support given to Surrey AI satellite project to explore autonomous navigation in space

17 JUN 2021

Surrey academics push boundaries of AI robotics for active debris removal in space

23 DEC 2020

Yang Gao appointed Editor-in-Chief of world-leading robotics journal

See all news

Enabling technologies

Our main research expertise and key research products include the following:

Our research leads to technologies for low-computation, high-accuracy 3D mapping and perception, resource-aware computation and data assimilation for parameter tuning in order to address challenges imposed by the extreme environments and design constraints of spacecraft and space missions.
Visual sensing using optical monocular/stereo cameras, 2D/3D LIDAR, and RGB-D sensors for visual odometry or pose estimation. (Our technique is ranked second place for real-world dataset and third place for synthetic dataset in the ESA/Stanford Pose Estimation Challenge 2019).
Visual perception based on cognitive vision and saliency techniques for thematic feature extraction, sinkage prediction, and terrain classification.
Planetary Monocular SLAM (PM-SLAM) for long range navigation of surface rovers (IAF's 3AF Edmond Brun Silver Medal 2013).
Major funded research projects and contributions to real-world space missions: ESA ExoMars mission’s PanCam payload and Phase A study; ESA Proba3 mission’s FLLS payload; UKSA funded CREST-1, NSTP2, and CREST-3 projects; Airbus funded OOA project; CNSA Chang’E3 mission’s PanCam data analytics; UKRI/UKSA funded Future AI & Robotics for Space (FAIR-SPACE) project.

Publications

L. Dai, J. Liu, Z. Ju and Y. Gao, "Iris Centre Localization Using Energy Map with Image Inpaint Technology and Post-Processing Correction," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 16965-16978, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2966722.

Robert Skilton, Yang Gao, Combining object detection with generative adversarial networks for in-component anomaly detection, Fusion Engineering and Design, Volume 159, 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2020.111736.

Miranda Bradshaw, Yang Gao, Kevin Homewood, “Interpolation methods for tracking spacecraft in ultra-tight formation”, Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 5(2), 028003, 2019, doi: 10.1117/1.JATIS.5.2.028003.

Pedro F. Proença, Yang Gao, "Probabilistic RGB-D odometry based on points, lines and planes under depth uncertainty”, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 10 March 2018, doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2018.02.018.

Affan Shaukat, Yang Gao, Jeffrey A. Kuo, Bob A. Bowen and Paul E. Mort, "Visual Classification of Waste Material for Nuclear Decommissioning," Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Volume 75, Part B, Pages 365-378, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.robot.2015.09.005.

Yang Gao, Steven Chien, Review on space robotics: Toward top-level science through space exploration. Science Robotics, 2, eaan5074 (2017). http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/2/7/eaan5074.full 

Conrad Spiteri, Affan Shaukat and Yang Gao "Structure Augmented Monocular Saliency for Planetary Rovers," Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Vol. 88, 1-10, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.robot.2016.11.013.

Affan Shaukat, Peter Blacker, Conrad Spiteri, and Yang Gao "Towards Camera-LIDAR Fusion-Based Terrain Modelling for Planetary Surfaces: Review and Analysis," Sensors, 16(11), 2016, doi:10.3390/s16111952.

Yang Gao, Conrad Spiteri, Chun-Lai Li and Yong-Chun Zheng, “Lunar Soil Strength Estimation based on Chang’E3 Images”, Advances in Space Research, Volume 58, Issue 9, p. 1893-1899, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2016.07.017.

Abhinav Bajpai, Affan Shaukat, Guy Burroughes, Yang Gao, Planetary Monocular Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (PM-SLAM), Journal of Field Robotics, Volume 33, Issue 2, pages 229–242, 2015, DOI: 10.1002/rob.21608.

Conrad Spiteri, Yang Gao, Said Al-Milli, and Aridane Sarrionandia de León, Real-time Visual Sinkage Detection for Planetary Rovers, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Vol 72, pp. 307–317, 2015.

Yang Gao, Conrad Spiteri, Minh-Tri Pham, and Said Al-Milli, A Survey on Recent Object Detection Techniques Useful for Monocular Vision-based Planetary Terrain Classification, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Vol. 62, Issue 2, pp. 151-167, 2013, 10.1016/j.robot.2013.11.003.

Peter Yuen, Yang Gao, Andrew Griffiths, Andrew Coates, Jan-Peter Muller, Alan Smith, Dave Walton, Craig Leff, Barry Hancock and Dongjoe Shin, ExoMars PanCam: Autonomy and Computational Intelligence, IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 4, pp. 52-61, Nov. 2013.

Dario L. Sancho-Pradel and Yang Gao, “A Survey on Terrain Assessment Techniques for Autonomous Operation of Planetary Robots”, Journal of British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 63, No. 5/6, pp. 206-217, May/June 2010.

Our research leads to technologies for hardware/software reconfiguration and self-verification in real time.
Autonomous software architecture, domain-independent, generic and reconfigurable, based on rational agents for complex space systems such as multi-satellite and multi-rover scenario.
Advanced software agents for learning and planning capabilities.
Ontology-based complex system modeling through SySML.
Major UKRI-EPSRC funded research projects: FAIR-SPACE RAI hub grant; Industrial sixth Sense grant; Autonomous and Intelligent Systems Programme; Impact Acceleration Account; Strategic Collaboration Award; Capital Equipment Grant.

Publications

Yang Gao, (Ed.) Contemporary Planetary Robotics – An Approach to Autonomous Systems, pp. 1-

450, Berlin: Wiley-VCH, ISBN-10: 3527413251, ISBN-13: 978-3527413256, August 2016.

Guy Burroughes and Yang Gao, "Ontology-Based Self-Reconfiguring Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Planetary Rovers". AIAA Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 316-328, 2016, doi: 10.2514/1.I010378.

Aitken, Jonathan, Sandor Veres, Affan Shaukat, Yang Gao, Elisa Cucco, Louise Dennis, Michael Fisher, Jeff Kuo, Thomas Robinson, and Paul Mort. "Autonomous nuclear waste management." IEEE Intelligent Systems, 2018, Vol. 33, Issue 6, 10.1109/MIS.2018.111144814.

Dennis LA, Fisher M, Aitken JM, Veres SM, Gao Y, Shaukat A, Burroughes G., Reconfigurable Autonomy, KI - Künstliche Intelligenz, Springer, 28 (3), pp. 199-207, 2014.

Juan M. Delfa Victoria, Simone Fratini, Nicola Policella, Oskar von Stryk, Yang Gao and Alessandro Donati, Planning Mars Rovers with Hierarchical Timeline Networks, Acta Futura, Issue 9, 21-29, 2014.

Yang Gao, Nicola Policella, and Frank Kirchner, Computational Intelligence for Space Systems and Operations, IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 4, pp. 9-11, Nov. 2013.

Yang Gao, Renato Samperio, Karin Shala and Ye Cheng, “Modular Design for Planetary Rover Autonomous Navigation Software using ROS”, Acta Futura, Issue 5, pp. 9-16, 2012.

Yifan Luo, Jinguo Liu, Yang Gao and Z Lu, Smartphone-Controlled Robot Snake for Urban Search and Rescue, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8917, pp. 352–363, 2014.

Angadh Nanjangud, Peter C. Blacker, Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, and Yang Gao, "Robotics and AI enabled On-Orbit Operations with Future Generation of Small Satellites" Proceedings of the IEEE, 106 (3), pp. 429-439, 2018, 10.1109/JPROC.2018.2794829.

C. Saunders, D. Lobbb, M. Sweeting, Y. Gao, Building Large Telescopes In Orbit Using Small Satellites, Acta Astronautica, 141, 183-195, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.09.022.

Biomimetic mechanism and robot soil interaction

Our research leads to technologies for energy-optimised locomotion mechanisms and control.
Pioneering bio-inspired Dual Reciprocating Drilling (DRD) technology - also known as the ‘wasp drill’ - allowing deep drilling with flexible deployment mechanism in low-gravity environments, and low-mass sampling tool suitable for small space vehicles. (COSPAR Outstanding Paper Award 2016; Finalist of IEEE/ASME's AIM Best Paper Award 2019; Exhibition at National Science Museum 'Antenna' gallery).
Innovative surface Mobile Active Rover Chassis for Enhanced Locomotion (MARCEL), capable of negotiating with loose soil and rugged terrains using minimal actuation.
Rigorous and systematic preparation methodologies for planetary soil simulants, ranging from Martian compressible soil to icy lunar regolith.
Vision based techniques for soil characterisation and physical property estimation.
Major funded research projects and contributions to real-world space missions: ESA ExoMars mission’s sampling payload testing; ESA Lunar Polar Sample Return (LPSR) mission’s L-GRASP payload testing; CNSA’s Chang’E3 mission terrain image analytics; ESA’s ACT grant on Bionics and Space Systems; NPI/OHB grant on innovative deep drilling; RAEng project on low-cost sampling; UKRI/UKSA funded FAIR-SPACE project.

Publications

Craig Pitcher and Yang Gao, Physical Properties of Icy Materials, in Outer Solar System: Prospective Energy and Material Resources, Springer-Verlag, pp. 1-940, ISBN: 978-3-319-73844-4, 2018, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73845-1.

David Firstbrook, KevinWorrall, Ryan Timoney, Francesc Suñol, Yang Gao and Patrick Harkness, An experimental study of ultrasonic vibration and the penetration of granular material, Royal Society Proceedings A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 473(2198), 2017, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3683191.

Craig Pitcher and Yang Gao, First implementation of burrowing motions in dual-reciprocating drilling using an integrated actuation mechanism, Advances in Space Research, Volume 59, Issue 5, p. 1368-1380, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2016.12.017

Norbert Kömle, Craig Pitcher, Yang Gao and Lutz Richter. Study of the Formation of Duricrusts on the Martian Surface and Their Effect on Sampling Equipment. ICARUS, Volume 281, p. 220-227, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2016.08.019.

Craig Pitcher, Norbert Kömle, Otto Leibniz, Odalys Morales-Calderon, Yang Gao, and Lutz Richter. "Investigation of the properties of icy lunar polar regolith simulants." Advances in Space Research, Volume 57, Issue 5, Pages 1197–1208, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2015.12.030.

Craig Pitcher and Yang Gao, Analysis of drill head designs for dual-reciprocating drilling techniques in planetary regolith, Advances in Space Research, Volume 56, Issue 8, pp. 1765–1776, 2015. COSPAR Outstanding Paper Award

Liu J, Wang Y, Ma S, Luo Y, Gao Y, Comments on "sidewinding with minimal slip: snake and robot ascent of sandy slopes", Robot, 37(2), pp. 254-256, 2015.

Thibault Gouache, Yang Gao, Pierre Coste, Yves Gourinat, First experimental investigation of dual reciprocating drilling in planetary regolith: proposition of penetration mechanics, Planetary and Space Science, Volume 59, Issue 13, pp. 1529-1541, October 2011.

Thibault P. Gouache, Christopher Brunskill, Gregory P. Scott, Yang Gao, Pierre Coste, Yves Gourinat, Regolith simulant preparation methods for hardware testing, Planetary and Space Science, Volume 58, Issues 14-15, pp. 1977-1984, 2010.

Y. Gao, M.N.Sweeting, S. Eckersley, J.F.V. Vincent, A “micro” concept for a planetary penetrator & drill package, in Penetrometry in the Solar System II, Gunter Kargl, Norbert I. Komle, Andrew J. Ball, Ralph D. Lorenz (Ed.), Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 83-92, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7001-6531-6.

Thibault Gouache, Yang Gao, Yves Gourinat and, Pierre Coste, Wood Wasp Inspired Space and Earth Drill, in Biomimetics, Learning from Nature, pp.467-486, March 2009, ISBN 978-953-307-025-4.

N.I. Kömle, E. Kaufmann, G. Kargl, Y. Gao and X. Rui, “Development of thermal sensors and drilling systems for lunar and planetary regoliths”, Advances in Space Research, Volume 42, Issue 2, pp. 363-368, July 2008.

N.I. Komle, E. S. Hutter, G. Kargl, H. Ju, Y. Gao, J. Grygorczuk, Development of Thermal, Sensors and Drilling Systems, For Application On Lunar Lander Missions, Earth, Moon and Planets, 103, pp. 119-141, 2008.

Low-cost attitude control for spinning space vehicles (such as kinetic penetrators or multi-U CubeSat) using minimum one actuator.
State-of-the-art slew algorithms including Extended Half Cone, Dual Cone, Sector Arc, and Spin Synch.
Major funded research projects and contributions to real-world space mission: Airbus funded R&D on software and hardware testbed for underactuated slew control; Surrey led Strand-1 CubeSat mission’s slew control experiment.

Publications

Juntian Si, Yang Gao, Abadi Chanik, Feedback Slew Algorithms for Prolate Spinners Using Single-Thruster, Acta Astronautica, Vol 144, pp. 39-51, March 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.11.044

Juntian Si, Yang Gao, Abadi Chanik. Slew Control of Prolate Spinners Using Single-Magnetorquer, AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 719-727, 2016.

Chanik, A., Gao, Y., Si, J., "Modular testbed for spinning spacecraft," AIAA Journal of Spacecraft, and Rockets, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 90-100, 2017, doi: 10.2514/1.A33586.

Yun-Hua Wu, Yang Gao, Jia-Wei Lin, Robin Raus, Shi-Jie Zhang and Mark Watt, A Low Cost, High Performance Monocular Vision System for Air Bearing Table Attitude Determination, AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 66-75, 2014.

Robin Raus, Yang Gao, Yunhua Wu, Mark Watt, Analysis of state-of-the-art single-thruster attitude control techniques for spinning penetrator, Acta Astronautica, Volume 76, pp. 60-78, 2012.

Yunhua Wu, Yang Gao, Robin Raus, Mark Watt, “A Trade-off Study of Single Thruster Attitude Control Algorithms for Prolate Spinning Spacecraft”, AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 35, no.4, pp. 1143-1157, 2012.

R.A. Gowen, A. Smith, A.J. Coates, I.A. Crawford, R.F. Scott, P.D. Church, Y. Gao, W.T. Pike, J. Flanagan, Development of kinetic penetrators for exploration of airless solar system bodies, in Penetrometry in the Solar System II, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 83-92, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7001-6531-6.

Key space systems

The technologies developed at STAR Lab are used to realise next generation spacecraft and vehicles, including rovers, robotic arms, wasp drills and penetrators.