Robust plane fitting algorithm for landing hazard detection

Abstract

An innovative three-dimensional hazard detection algorithm is proposed for a planetary safe landing mission. Typically, plane fitting is carried out to approximate the surface of the planetary terrain. Current state-of-the-art plane estimation methods with a low breakdown point do not meet the requirements of future pinpoint landing missions. In this paper, a novel robust scale estimator called Preprocessing and Double Iterative Median Scale Estimator (PDIMSE) is proposed, which can achieve a breakdown point of more than 50%. It can be applied to future Mars landing missions.