Noida Startup Omnipresent To Power Chandrayaan-3’s Navigation On Moon

Noida-based Omnipresent Robot Technologies is working with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to support the navigation of the Pragyaan Rover, part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission.

Omnipresent has developed Perception Navigation Software for the Pragyaan rover that is housed in the Vikram Lander. The Vikram Lander touched down on the Lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening, and the Pragyaan Rover rolled out on the Lunar surface this morning.

“We are very excited and look forward to seeing the Pragyaan Rover navigating the lunar surface using our software,” Aakash Sinha, CEO of Omnipresent Robot Technologies, told PTI. 

According to Omnipresent’s CEO, the software was originally developed for Chandrayaan-2, but since the rover could not be deployed back then, the same software is being used for Chandrayaan-3.

Sinha added that the software developed by Omnipresent Robot Technologies will capture images of the moon using the two cameras of the lunar rover and ‘stitch’ them together to generate a 3D map of the lunar landscape.

The software has been built in the rover, and the image processing will be done onboard the lunar craft, Sinha said, adding that the final 3D model will be transmitted back to mission control in Bengaluru. 

The scientists can also take the rover for a tour of the photographed area based on the 3D model of the lunar surface generated by the software.

The Pragyaan Rover uses just two cameras that act as its ‘eyes’, while the software generates 3D maps of the lunar surface. “The Pragyaan Rover will find its way around the moon with these two eyes,” Sinha said.

Chandrayaan-3, developed and launched at a cost of $74 Mn, made India the first country to land on the Lunar South Pole successfully. The selenographical area is important as past missions have indicated the presence of water ice at the location.

Overall, India became just the fourth country to successfully conduct a soft landing on the moon’s surface, after Russia, the US and China.

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