NASA researchers Guan Yang, Jeff Chen and their team were recognized for their exemplary work on lidar systems enhanced with artificial intelligence and other technologies. Flight Center’s 2024 Innovator of the Year Award.
Laser-based sonar, lidar, and their use in space exploration are not new. However, the lidar system developed by Yang and Chen’s team, formally known as the Simultaneous Artificial Intelligence Spectroscopy and Adaptive Lidar System (CASALS), can produce higher resolution data in a smaller space, and is capable of producing higher resolution data in a smaller space than current models. The efficiency is significantly improved compared to
The true revolution in CASALS lies in the combination of highly efficient laser and receiver designs, wavelength-based non-mechanical beam steering, multispectral imaging, and related technologies such as the incorporation of artificial intelligence that allows instruments to make their own decisions. It’s a unique combination. Instead of waiting for instructions from a human controller on the ground while in orbit.
“Existing 3D imaging lidar is needed for guidance, navigation, and control technology to ensure accurate and safe landings essential for future robotic and human exploration missions,” team engineer Jeffrey Chen said in a previous interview. “We are struggling to provide a 2-inch resolution.” “Such a system would require a 3D hazard detection lidar and a navigation Doppler lidar, but there are no existing systems that can perform both functions.”
CASALS LIDAR is being developed to study land and ice topography, coastline change, and other geoscience topics. Future applications for solar system science beyond Earth have already begun, including improved space navigation and high-resolution lunar surface mapping for NASA’s Artemis campaign to return astronauts to the moon.
Effective and compact LIDAR systems like CASALS can also map rocky planets like Venus and Mars.
NASA leveraged laser and optical technology contributions from outside small business innovation research firms, including Axsun Technologies, Freedom Photonics, and Left Hand, to help make CASALS a reality.
The Internal Research and Development (IRAD) Innovator of The Year award is presented by Goddard’s Office of the Chief Engineer to an individual or team within the program who has made an outstanding contribution to the state of the art. The CASALS team was presented with the award at the Technology Poster Session on November 6, 2024 at NASA Goddard.
Written by Avery Truman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
