[m3koval]

Nothing is cheap about autonomy, especially when there is limited computing power on-board the robot and power consumption is a major constraint.

Using a hybrid remote operated/autonomous approach is reasonable, though: only send high level commands to the robot. These commands require less bandwidth and are less impacted by latency, so it's the best of both worlds. I believe NASA already does something like this on the Mars rovers by allowing the operator to specify waypoints and letting the robot plan their own paths between the waypoints.