Case Study: Airbus Defence and Space achieves high autonomy and rapid development for the Mars Sample Fetch Rover with MathWorks (MATLAB & Simulink)

Airbus Develops Autonomous Control Systems for the Mars Sample Fetch Rover Using Model-Based Design

Airbus Defence and Space faced a tight, non‑negotiable schedule and extreme autonomy requirements for its Mars Sample Fetch Rover in the Mars Sample Return campaign: short surface/operation windows driven by orbital mechanics, dust‑storm seasons to avoid, and the need to develop, verify, and test a bespoke rover quickly. To meet these challenges they used MathWorks tools — notably the MATLAB/Simulink environment along with Robotics ToolBox, Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, and Embedded Coder — to build vision, grasping, and autonomy algorithms.

MathWorks supported an integrated solution in which high‑level algorithms and machine‑learning detection were developed and validated in MATLAB/Simulink, then automatically converted to flight C‑code with Embedded Coder and accompanied by generated documentation to help meet ECSS standards. The MathWorks workflow produced autocoded flight software and end‑to‑end simulation/validation chains, leveraging an approach proven on prior missions (e.g., OneWeb) where autocoded control systems achieved nominal behavior and were delivered on time, enabling Airbus Defence and Space to accelerate development while maintaining compliance and traceable artifacts.

Airbus Defence and Space