TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: 3D Lidar for Autonomous Landing Site Selection (GSC-TOPS-353)

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses.

THE TECHNOLOGY: Next generation autonomous planetary exploration missions require advanced sensing capabilities for choosing proper landing areas for the vehicles. Current tools do not have the capability to allow vehicles outside the range of terrestrial control to autonomously perform safe landing operations. The Ocellus 3D lidar developed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is a lightweight, small-footprint 3D lidar system for planetary and lunar exploration.

The new 3D lidar can perform both altimetry (or range-finding) measurements from high altitudes and, at lower altitudes, terrain mapping and imaging. These measurements provide the necessary data for autonomous systems to select safe landing areas for planetary exploration vehicles.

Developed to aid in the safe landing and navigation of the rotocopter for the Dragonfly mission to explore Titan, the Ocellus 3D lidar may be used for a wide variety of altimetry and terrain mapping purposes both in space and terrestrially. Aerial planetary exploration spacecraft require lightweight, compact, and low power sensing systems to enable successful landing operations. The Ocellus 3D lidar meets those criteria as well as being able to withstand harsh planetary environments.

Further, the new tool is based on space-qualified components and lidar technology previously developed at NASA Goddard (i.e., the Kodiak 3D lidar) as shown in the figure below. The Ocellus 3D lidar quickly scans a near infrared laser across a planetary surface, receives that signal, and translates it into a 3D point cloud.

Using a laser source, fast scanning MEMS (micro-electromechanical system)-based mirrors, and NASA-developed processing electronics, the 3D point clouds are created and converted into elevations and images onboard the craft. At ~2 km altitudes, Ocellus acts as an altimeter and at altitudes below 200 m the tool produces images and terrain maps. The produced high resolution (centimeter-scale) elevations are used by the spacecraft to assess safe landing sites.

The Ocellus 3D lidar is applicable to planetary and lunar exploration by unmanned or crewed aerial vehicles and may be adapted for assisting in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing operations. Beyond exploratory space missions, the new compact 3D lidar may be used for aerial navigation in the defense or commercial space sectors. The Ocellus 3D lidar is available for patent licensing.

To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA’s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/GSC-TOPS-353 If you have any questions, please e-mail NASA’s Technology Transfer Program at Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this SAM.gov notice and your preferred contact information.

For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.