Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
New Mars Robots — Parallax Forums

New Mars Robots

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2010-07-27 07:44 in Robotics
Interesting videos. If only reality worked like the simulations, we could really achieve a lot!

http://news.discovery.com/space/brawny-mars-robots-will-launch-a-new-wave-of-exploration.html

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
·"If you build it, they will come."

Comments

  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2010-07-19 23:47
    Holy smoke, that ATHLETE robot is amazing! It has legs, synchro-drive, and arms in one tidy package.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2010-07-23 09:32
    It really needs some protection against the high velocity Martian dust storms that sand blast everything with 300 to 400 mph winds in the thin CO2 environment. So eye-lids and eye cleaning "hands" are a must. Plus the Martian winters are so cold they can freeze joints, motors, etc. Some kind of frost eliminating heater is needed. Some reality points that the simulation did not cover...

    humanoido
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2010-07-24 09:40
    Last time I took the Coast Starlight (overnight train), I got seated for dinner next to a mechanical engineer for JPL. He was working on the Athlete project at the time, and I got to pester him with questions. He was very excited about the project, and very forthcoming. According to him, one of the main advantages of the robot is the completely independent "leg wheels". The robot has 6 or 8 (I don't remember), but it can take failures on any of them down to 3 legs and still remain fully operational. In addition, since each leg has a wheel the robot can walk through rocky portions and roll at high speeds through smooth portions. Plus, the legs give the body a large clearance. The whole thing can fold to a compact box.

    As a side note, random interactions while traveling are really fun. On that train trip I had four meals, and met three different engineers (Mechanical, RF, and Electrical) and one couple whose son was a CS major like me. It's really a good way to get random information. I even got a internship offer from the JPL guy.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Powered by enthusiasm
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2010-07-26 22:04
    @SRLM - sounds like a great trip! What fun.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Whit+


    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
  • iDaveiDave Posts: 252
    edited 2010-07-27 07:44
    Watch Curioisity take her first baby steps!

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGklQmFd2_M&feature=player_embedded

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    “How much of human life is lost in waiting.” Ralph Waldo Emerson"
Sign In or Register to comment.