Design and Testing of Autonomous Vehicles

Why It Matters

The program directly prepares engineers to solve autonomous landing challenges critical for future lunar and planetary missions, narrowing the gap between academic prototypes and industry‑ready technology.

Key Takeaways

• Students design end-to-end autonomous landing system for extraterrestrial exploration.
• Course emphasizes real-time decision making with limited sensors.
• Sim-to-real testing bridges gap between models and hardware.
• Hands-on TA support critical for troubleshooting complex software.
• Program produces engineers contributing to industry lunar and space missions.

Summary

The video introduces a senior capstone course, Design and Testing of Autonomous Vehicles, where students build a complete autonomous landing system that mimics lunar‑lander challenges. The class moves from mission definition through requirements, software architecture, and finally hardware integration, tasking drones to scan a high‑bay, rank terrain features, and land upright using only a camera and LiDAR. Key insights include a strong focus on real‑time perception and decision making under sensor constraints, extensive simulation‑to‑real testing to close the fidelity gap, and systems‑level thinking that forces students to consider how each design choice impacts overall performance. The curriculum also stresses iterative unit testing, incremental code deployment, and rigorous validation against unpredictable environments, such as preventing the drone from navigating through safety nets. Notable examples feature custom code that blocks the drone from exploring beyond visible nets, and anecdotes about teaching assistants providing hands‑on debugging that mirrors industry practice. Instructors highlight that alumni have gone on to work on high‑profile projects like SpaceX booster landings and Google’s wing program, underscoring the course’s real‑world impact. The significance lies in cultivating engineers who can tackle unsolved autonomous‑landing problems, bridging academic research with commercial space endeavors, and delivering a talent pipeline equipped to advance lunar and planetary exploration missions.

Original Description

In 16.85 Autonomy Capstone (Design and Testing of Autonomous Vehicles), AeroAstro students build software that allows autonomous flight vehicles to navigate unknown environments.