Welcome to the RoSE Lab, led by Dr. Frankie Zhu, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. We build intelligent robotic systems to explore extreme space environments, from orbital satellites to lunar/Martian rovers and sub-surface explorers. More info at franceszhu.space.
Our goal is to push the frontiers of robotic autonomy in space, marrying:
- Dynamics & control systems
- Machine learning for real‑time decision making
- Terramechanics and multisensor perception
- Digital-twin simulation (e.g., Isaac Sim, ROS2)
- Field and hardware experimentation in lunar-analog environments, namely the Mines Lunar Surface Simulation testbed
We design algorithms that enable robots to understand and adapt to unknown terrain in real time, empowering them to:
- Traverse lunar/Martian regolith
- Conduct scientific exploration in GNSS-denied settings
- Support future Artemis missions from orbit to subsurface
- Custom, low-cost modular 6U rover designed to support multiple payloads for mobility trials and future research
- Experimental evaluation of rover-terrain interaction, optimizing vehicle design for soft-regolith traversal
- Design and evaluation of multi-sensor enabled SLAM methods for simultaneous localization and mapping on the Lunar surface
Interested in robotic autonomy, space missions, or field testing in moon dust?
- ⭐ Star our repos
- 🐛 File issues, suggest improvements, or submit pull requests
- 📧 Contact Frankie directly at frankie.zhu@mines.edu to join the lab or collaborate
🛰️ Powered by the Space Resources & Robotics programs at Colorado School of Mines