10 Researchers are teaching dog-like robots to navigate craters of the Moon and other challenging planetary surfaces, writes Nick Flaherty. A research project funded by the US space agency, NASA, is using a fourlegged robot named Spirit to test how robots would move around on the Moon. The robots are being tested 6,000 ft up the snow-capped Mount Hood in Oregon, US, by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Southern California, Texas A&M University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and NASA. The LASSIE (Legged Autonomous Surface Science in Analog Environments) Project uses Spirit, developed by Ghost Robotics, on a variety of challenging terrains, shifting the likes of dirt to slushy snow and boulders. The site at Mt Hood provides an icy, volcanic setting, consisting of debriscovered glaciers, glacial till, andesite and dacite lava flows, and pyroclastic and debris flows. This is similar to the cratered, icy new technology. We learn and improve from the observed failures.” A second project aims to coordinate teams of robots in Temporarily, Robots Unite to Surmount Sandy Entrapments, then Separate (TRUSSES). “They would sense how the ground conditions are, and then exchange that information with one another, and collectively form a map of locomotion risk estimation. The team of robots can then use this traversal risk map to inform their planetary explorations: ‘There is an extremely soft sand patch that might be high risk for wheeled rovers – come over here; this might be a safer area’,” Qian said. The team would include a wheeled rover for carrying payload over long distances, a six-legged robot with better mobility and rugged versions of Spirit. They could coordinate a rescue if one robot got stuck. “When they plan for the strategy to pull the robot up, they will decide what force to exert and what position the robot should go to, while also compiling the terrain information,” said Qian. “That’s the key idea of how to use these capabilities: to both prevent and recover from locomotion failures in extreme terrain.” Robots Four-legged robots explore Moon-like terrain landscapes on the Moon, and to icy areas at mid and high latitudes on Mars. The presence of ice can have a strong effect on the geotechnical properties of regolith, and data from the substrate properties can help robots learn how to walk better on these extreme terrains. Compression and shearing tests can be performed from the motor on one leg of the robot to measure the mechanical response of the upper few centimetres of regolith. The proprioceptive capabilities of the direct drive and quasi-direct-drive actuators used within the robot enable highly sensitive measurements of the sediment. “A legged robot needs to be able to detect what is happening when it interacts with the ground underneath, and rapidly adjust its locomotion strategies accordingly,” said Feifei Qian, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and School of Advanced Computing, which is leading the project. “When the robot leg slips on ice or sinks into soft snow, it inspires us to look for new principles and strategies that can push the boundary of human knowledge and enable June/July 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Testing a four-legged robot for use on the Moon (Image courtesy of USC)
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