Could there be robot snakes on Mars?
As part of its interest to enhance its operations on other planets with more mobility and maneuverability, The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research is assisting the Entomological Society of America on whether snake robots could be the answer according the foundation's press release.
"Maneuverability is a challenge," SINTEF's Pål Liljebäck and Aksel Transeth said. "The Spirit rover was lost after it became stuck in the sand on Mars. The vehicles just cannot get to many of the places from which samples have to be taken."
Researchers are currently working on a feasibility study given to them by the society; and feel putting a rover capable of covering large distances with a snake robot that can go along the ground and can access hard to get to places would provide more information from a planet.
"We are looking at several alternatives to enable a rover and a robot to work together. Since the rover has a powerful energy source, it can provide the snake robot with power through a cable extending between the rover and the robot," Transeth said. "If the robot had to use its own batteries, it would run out of power and we would lose it.
"One option is to make the robot into one of the vehicle's arms, with the ability to disconnect and reconnect itself, so that it can be lowered to the ground, where it can crawl about independently," he said.
Researchers have a variety of ideas to make this happen.
"The connection between the robot and the rover also means that the snake robot will be able to assist the vehicle if the latter gets stuck," Liljebäck said in a statement. "In such a situation, the robot could lower itself to the ground and coil itself around a rock enabling the rover pull itself loose by means of the cable winch, which the rover would normally use to pull the snake robot towards the rover."
