Towards Robotic Exploration of the Solar System: A Control Perspective on DLR's Autonomous Lightweight Rover Units

This thesis addresses the control of two prototypes of planetary exploration rovers, by presenting novel control approaches tailored to the demands of wheeled mobile manipulators in extraterrestrial environments. The first part focuses on whole-body control concepts for manipulation tasks. The second part addresses the wheel-ground interaction. Through these contributions, this thesis advances the state of the art in control theory for robotic exploration systems, enabling more efficient, stable, and robust navigation and manipulation in complex planetary terrain.