Collaborative autonomy enables swarms of robots to work together in austere environments, leveraging each one’s specific strengths to complete tasks. This technology is the foundation of the Autonomous Swarming for Teams of Exploration Robots (ASTER) solution from Charles River Analytics, developed in collaboration with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
Having successfully completed the project, Charles River is actively seeking commercial and government opportunities in autonomous construction, lunar mining, and autonomous swarms to expand this work and bring it to commercial fruition. We invite government stakeholders advancing robotics for mobility, construction, and expeditionary operations to explore Phase III opportunities.
With protected data rights and streamlined sole-source pathways, ASTER is positioned for rapid adoption beyond NASA. Defense organizations focused on ground autonomy, robotics for construction, and field logistics can use Phase III authority to transition ASTER into operational use. This flexibility ensures that the same collaborative autonomy software demonstrated for lunar missions can also support terrestrial defense needs in resource-constrained environments.
“Through ASTER and other efforts, we have been developing one of the most advanced multi-robot coordination capabilities in the industry,” said David Koelle, Principal Software Engineer at Charles River Analytics and Technical Lead for ASTER.
“Our focus at Charles River Analytics is on the real-world application of innovative AI concepts,” Koelle added. “Within the next decade, the Moon will have more robots than people. Early investments are being made in robots that can mine for rare elements on the lunar surface. In our work, we’re thinking about how to orchestrate multiple robots so that humans can trust robots to get the work done accurately and safely.” The ASTER team is now seeking a third-party partner to help bring collaborative autonomous robots into practical use.
Whether in construction and excavation, mining, search-and-rescue operations, or future lunar missions, collaborative autonomy can achieve more than individual robots in remote or challenging environments. “The work we have done with NASA so far has proven that we can infuse robots with decision-making capabilities that let them figure out how to work together and make the best use of each other’s skills,” Koelle said. “Autonomy is great, but if individual autonomous robots don’t know how to work together, you’re left with a bunch of individual robots each working for themselves. We’re building the layer of orchestration that lets these individuals come together, like multiple voices coming together as a chorus. We’re making robots work together in ways that are greater than the sum of the parts.”
NASA’s plan for a sustained lunar presence (Artemis) will require robotic exploration and construction on harsh terrain. There are also significant commercial investments being made in mining Helium-3—a rare isotope of helium necessary for quantum computers and emerging forms of clean energy—from the lunar surface. “ASTER’s degradation and fault management algorithms are well suited for expeditionary environments like the lunar surface and other remote resource exploration settings,” said Dr. Spencer Lynn, Senior Scientist at Charles River Analytics and Principal Investigator on the ASTER effort.
During an in-person final briefing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the ASTER team presented a recorded demonstration of collaborative autonomy featuring three physical autonomous rovers operating at WPI’s laboratory. Each rover was equipped with a different simulated skillset, such as mineral sensing, excavation, or material transport. Instead of acting alone, the simulated ASTER-enabled robots worked together to explore, mine, and problem-solve, demonstrating how swarms can achieve tasks that no single robot could accomplish on their own. This capability is designed to support future lunar exploration and construction, where resilient teamwork between robots will be essential. Even when communication was intentionally disrupted during the demonstration, the robots adapted and continued to operate as a team, a critical capability for future lunar exploration and construction.
On the moon, communication between robots can be blocked by terrain like craters, but ASTER’s collaborative autonomy overcomes this challenge. Using a “theory of mind” approach, each robot makes informed assumptions about its teammates’ actions, allowing the team to keep working even when direct communication is lost. The successful demonstration of the advanced ASTER prototype showcased the software’s ability to deliver greater efficiency, lower cost, and increased resilience.
“ASTER’s software is hardware-agnostic, enabling robots from different manufacturers to operate together and scale seamlessly as more robots are added,” Lynn explained.
“We’re at the cusp of something very transformative here,” Koelle added. “We want to take the amazing individual robots that industry is building and make them work together. To do that, we’re looking for a partner who will actively collaborate with us as we reshape the future of collaborative autonomy, for lunar exploration and terrestrial applications such as construction, mining, and other field operations.”
Contact us to learn more about ASTER and our other robotics and autonomy capabilities.
Related Media and Articles
Robot development, from actuators to AI – The Robot Report Podcast 2026
Theory of Mind Knowledge Transfer for Multi-robot Systems to Support Collaborative Autonomy — Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium 2024
Collaborative Autonomy Meets the Real World — AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2024
Swarms: Current Research and Future Applications — SXSW 2024
Advancing Autonomous Teaming for NASA Lunar Robotics — Unmanned Systems Technology 2023
