NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has created a self-propelled, autonomous robotic snake designed to discover excessive extraterrestrial terrain. Its first-of-a-kind propulsion system means it might probably boldly go the place no robotic snake has gone earlier than.
The robotic snake is named an Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) and was impressed by a need to search for life deep in Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus.
Within the mid-to-late-2000s, when the Cassini spacecraft despatched again to Earth photos of Enceladus, considered one of Saturn’s 83 moons, scientists found it was lively and hiding a salty ocean of liquid water beneath its crust, one thing that solely a handful of worlds are recognized to own. What’s distinctive about Enceladus – which is sufficiently small to suit inside the size of the UK – is that it constantly sprays plumes of icy particles from that ocean, combined with water and easy natural chemical substances, into house.
Investigating these plumes, and the slender vents they escape from, are what prompted the event of EELS. Development of the prototype started in 2019 and has been commonly up to date. Since 2022, the JPL crew has been conducting month-to-month area exams to refine the robotic’s {hardware} and software program in order that it’s capable of function autonomously.
The present iteration of EELS is 13-ft (4-m) lengthy and weighs about 220 lb (100 kg). Its 10 an identical, rotating segments use screw heads for propulsion and grip. The EELS crew have experimented with completely different screws to be used in several terrains: 3D-printed plastic screws for looser terrain and sharper metallic screws for ice.
The crew has examined EELS utilizing a snowy ‘robotic playground’ at a Southern Californian ski resort, at an indoor ice rink, and in sandy terrain. As a result of they’ve entered new territory with EELS, the testing course of has been educational.
NASA/JPL-CalTech
“We have now a distinct philosophy of robotic improvement than conventional spacecraft, with many fast cycles of testing and correcting,” stated Hiro Ono, JPL’s principal investigator. “There are dozens of textbooks about design a four-wheel automobile, however there is no such thing as a textbook about design an autonomous snake robotic to boldly go the place no robotic has gone earlier than. We have now to put in writing our personal.”
Given the communication lag between Earth and deep house, EELS’ potential to function autonomously is necessary. If it runs into an issue, it wants to have the ability to get better by itself with out counting on human help.
“Think about a automobile driving autonomously, however there aren’t any cease indicators, no site visitors indicators, not even any roads,” stated Rohan Thakker, the undertaking’s autonomy lead. “The robotic has to determine what the street is and attempt to observe it. Then it must go down a 100-feet [30-m] drop and never fall.”
To help with autonomy, EELS makes use of 4 pairs of stereo cameras and LiDAR (Mild Detection and Ranging) to provide a 3D map of its environment. LiDAR determines vary by focusing on a floor or object with a laser and measuring the time it takes for the mirrored mild to return to the receiver. EELS makes use of this data to create navigation algorithms in order that it might probably extra simply traverse difficult areas.
To check EELS’ mapping capabilities, final 12 months, the JPL crew dropped the robotic’s head – the half that comprises the cameras and LiDAR – right into a vertical shaft at Athabasca Glacier within the Canadian Rockies. They’ll return to the glacier in September with an up to date model of EELS to see the way it fared.
EELS’ ultimate type will include 48 little motors (actuators) that can present extra flexibility. Many have built-in force-torque sensing, which is able to allow EELS to ‘really feel’ how a lot strain it’s exerting on the terrain. This may assist it to navigate uneven surfaces in slender areas very similar to a rock climber does, shimmying upward or downward by pushing in opposition to opposing partitions.
The following step is to include scientific devices.
“Our focus thus far has been on autonomous functionality and mobility, however finally we’ll take a look at what science devices we will combine with EELS,” stated Matthew Robinson, EELS undertaking supervisor. “Scientists inform us the place they wish to go, what they’re most enthusiastic about, and we’ll present a robotic that can get them there.”
EELS adaptability signifies that, except for Enceladus, the robotic snake can be utilized to discover Mars’ polar caps, or deep icy crevasses on our personal planet.
Nonetheless, it is a while until EELS can be slithering throughout the terrain of different planets. Scientists hope the robotic can be full by fall subsequent 12 months, nonetheless it is then anticipated to be a decade-long look forward to a spacecraft to taxi EELS to Enceladus.
The video beneath, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reveals EELS being examined in several environments.
Testing Out JPL’s New Snake Robotic
Supply: NASA/JPL