NASA's new bots: better, faster, cheaper
posted Mar 9th 2005 4:33AM
Scientists at NASA are busily working on the next generation of Mars-exploration robots, with agility, intelligence and budgetary realities setting the agenda. According to a profile in the San Francisco Chronicle, the new robots include the Scorpion, an eight-legged robot that can stroll across the rough Martian terrain without stumbling (shown at right in a NASA photo) and the K9 rover, a variation on the current Mars rover that can work 10 times faster than the original model. Of course, speed is a relative term when it comes to the tasks these bots perform. The original rover took three days to take a picture of a rock; K9 will be able to shoot a blazing four shots in two hours. Scientists boast that up to 75% of the chips and switches used in the new bots are off-the-shelf components that you can pick up in stores like Fry's, which keeps costs down and also raises the tantalizing question: who will build the first basement copy of the K9 or Scorpion?
Everyday technology has progressed so far that one of the most advanced technological projects known to man involves robots in which 75% of its components can be bought at a local electronics store... That is just nothing short of amazing.
Cost and speed are important factors, but isn't the whole problem about Mars exploration is the cost of the voyage rather than the cost of the probe itself? From a layman's perspective, reliability, compactness, and weight looks like more of the issue that needs to be addressed. And what happened to those concept of using the resources on the planet itself, like wind and sun? I loved the tumbleweed robot concept, and fancied some robot that uses the material on the planet as part of the probe's machinery (like using pebbles as part of the structure/weight of a very light-weight framework).
Clarification: 75% of it's brains, anyway (not 75% of all of its components - but still amazing).
Not convinced. Most of the electronic components on any spacefaring technology has to "hardened" against radiation. This is especially important on Mars because it has no magnetic field. Unless they are using some sort of new shielding. NASA has also required a very high level ISO certification in the past and I doubt anything of shelf at Fry's has passed much of any kind of certification.
Red vs Blue did a video about the mars rovers awhile back, pretty funny if you are into halo. If any of you other halo nerds (myself included) remember xbconnect you probably saw this posted in the forums. They don't have the link up right now (they rotate old videos weekly) I should have it on my compy at home, I'll post again sometime around 5:30 if anyone wants it.
I would add a friendly dissent to the statement that 75% of the chips and switches on the next generation rovers coming off the shelf is amazing. I would rather see NASA, with it's multi-billion dollar budget, coming up with more novel solutions. After all, a major reason for the public funding of NASA is the hope that it will create new technology that can then be applied to industry, not the other way around. I am impressed with the technology available to the average person, but I would prefer less esoteric innovations.