Researchers’ autonomous system makes it easier to transport cargo on the moon

Autonomy algorithms developed by researchers at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) could one day make transporting cargo to the Moon safer and more efficient for astronauts.

As part of a team led by MDA Space, Professor Tim Barfoot and Ph.D. student Alec Krawciw are developing technology to help Canada’s proposed Lunar Utility Vehicle navigate between cargo drop-off points on future lunar missions, addressing a key transportation challenge once astronauts land on the moon.

“Lunar exploration involves a landing site and a habitat site approximately five kilometers apart,” says Barfoot, who is also director of the University of Toronto’s Robotics Institute, an institutional strategic initiative.

“The landing site is flat to allow for a safe arrival of the shuttle, while the habitat must be shielded from radiation, usually behind rocky terrain. This creates a transportation challenge: the astronauts must be able to move all cargo from the shuttle to the habitat.”

Unlike previous planetary missions where rovers explore the terrain in multiple directions to collect data, the Lunar Utility Vehicle will travel regularly back and forth between fixed locations to deliver cargo and equipment to astronauts. This is the first time a space rover will have to repeat the same path, making Barfoot’s learn-and-repeat visual navigation framework well-suited for the mission.

“Learn and repeat algorithms allow us to pilot the rover along a predetermined trajectory by driving it manually or physically, [but] once it learns the path, it can automatically repeat the route as many times as you want,” says Barfoot. “By automating this part of the mission, it saves astronauts time and energy returning to the landing site to retrieve cargo, limits astronauts’ exposure to lunar elements, and increases mission productivity.

As part of his doctorate. As part of his research, Krawciw is adapting autonomous driving technology for integration into the Canadian Space Agency’s test vehicle, the Lunar Exploration Light Rover (LELR).

In December 2024, Krawciw and Barfoot joined teams from MDA Space and the BRP Advanced Technologies Center at the University of Sherbrooke to test the autonomous system at the space agency’s analog field facility in Montreal, which replicates the surface of Mars. The field test allowed teams to identify and resolve potential hardware and software constraints when operating in Moon-like conditions.

“Adapting our code to LELR came with some unexpected challenges,” says Krawciw. “Simulating lunar conditions introduced a five-second delay in command and return, so we couldn’t rely on joystick control as we normally would. This pushed us to develop a new method of semi-autonomous teaching using short path segments, something we had never done before.”

“Despite the technical challenges, it’s always exciting to see something I’ve worked on in the lab come to life on a real space mission.”

After a successful field test, the team was selected by the space agency in July 2025 to conduct a preliminary study of Canada’s proposed Lunar Utility Vehicle as part of the agency’s Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative. This will be Canada’s next contribution to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon.

As the team prepares the vehicle to be mission ready, Krawciw is focused on improving the system’s performance in real-world conditions and ensuring it is ready for long-duration deployments.

“We learned a lot from running the system continuously in the field,” says Krawciw.

“It wasn’t just about making the autonomy work, it was about making it reliable and user-friendly for operators who could use it all day, in harsh conditions. This perspective shapes how I approach the next phase of development.