Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, Calif., created a micro robot reminiscent of the
childhood character Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web.” Dubbed
“spider-bot” for its spider-like appearance, this itsy-
bitsy, high-tech critter may one day chart the terrain on
other planets and explore smaller bodies, such as comets,
asteroids or the Moon.
Spider-bots may also help with maintenance and repairs on
the International Space Station. On Earth, they might fill
in for humans by investigating hazardous materials or taking
soil measurements on farms.
“Traditional rovers have very efficient wheels, but there
are things we’d like to explore with legs that you can’t do
with wheels,” said Robert Hogg, engineer in JPL’s Mobility
Systems Concept Development Section. “Our aim is to make a
small, capable robot that can explore varying terrain in
different environments; in other words, go anywhere any
time,” he said.
Like a real spider, this robot has feeler like antennas,
which help it detect various obstacles. The first prototype
is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Future
versions could be one-tenth that size. Equipped with cameras
that pan and survey its surroundings, the spider-bot has six
legs and uses a tripod-walking gait to balance while in
motion. In the future, depending on the kind of work it must
perform, spider-bots may have eight, 12 or even 50 legs.
Hogg led the team of researchers developing the micro robot,
which recently underwent its first demonstration. Small
radio packages were dropped from a larger rover, and one was
turned off. A spider-bot was successfully directed to
navigate simulated Martian terrain to take the place of the
“broken” radio.
Researchers envision multiple spider-bots weaving an entire
communications network without the need of an existing
infrastructure, such as a satellite. Each robot would
continuously collect data from the environment and transmit
the information short distances from one spider-bot to the
next. The data could be shared by all of the spider-bots,
allowing each one to know what is collected elsewhere.
Development of the spider-bot is true to NASA’s vision to
create evolvable hardware with many uses. “In the old days,
if one instrument failed an entire mission might be at
risk,” said Dr. Neville Marzwell, manager, Advanced Concepts
and Technology Innovations at JPL.
“The new approach is to have structures or robots that are
reconfigurable, adjustable and flexible to stand on their
own,” Marzwell said. “Evolvable, reconfigurable structures
are key to changing the paradigm for future space missions
by increasing their functionality while reducing cost by
becoming a multi-use robot or system,” he said.
The next big step in the development of the spider-bot is
for researchers to attach tools to the robot’s two front
legs, enabling it to perform tasks like digging and repair.
They also plan to build a more advanced prototype that will
move faster, climb and make independent decisions to
explore. “In the future, we might use a hundred or a
thousand of them at once, so they can all work together to
achieve one goal,” Hogg said.
NASA’s Cross Enterprise Technology Development Program
provided funding for this work. The California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, Calif. manages JPL for NASA.
