MAE 298: CADRE: A Journey of Bringing Multi-Agent Autonomy to the Moon

Abstract: CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) is a technology demonstration going to the moon via the Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) program in 2026. It will be a first of its kind demonstration of multi-agent autonomous rovers, featuring three fully autonomous, carryon-sized rovers performing a distributed measurement of the lunar surface and subsurface with stereo cameras and multistatic ground-penetrating radars. This talk will provide an overview of the technologies that enable this capability and a brief history of the development leading to this technology demonstration.

Bio: Jean-Pierre de la Croix is a robotics systems engineer in the Maritime and Multi-Agent Autonomy group at NASA JPL. He joined JPL after completing a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015. His research focused on new control techniques for large-scale robotic systems, such that humans can easily and effectively interact with these complex systems. At JPL, he continues to work on multi-agent robotics for new and challenging applications, including CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration), a lunar technology demonstration of multi-agent rover autonomy. Jean-Pierre is currently CADRE’s principal investigator.