NASA To Use Soft Robots For Dangerous Tasks On Mars & The Moon

Ravi Adwani - May 10, 2019


NASA To Use Soft Robots For Dangerous Tasks On Mars & The Moon

Future space explorer can be huge squishy wormy robots. NASA believes these bots can substitute humans for dangerous, dirty & dull missions on Mars & the moon.

We’ve seen many illustrations of space bots like Wall-E, R2-D2, and Robby from famous movies and series. However, in reality, space robots are far from looking like any of them. Instead, according to NASA, we should be expecting robots in the form of huge squishy worms.

Nasa-space-robots
This kind of soft robot has a huge potential of being a future space explorer.

Soft, wormy bots for space missions

From the Langley Research Center, NASA, the two interns Jack Fitzpatrick and Chuck Sullivan are working on a soft robot like that. They hope to use the design for dirty, dangerous or even dull missions in space. We’re talking about space exploration on Mars and the moon.

These wormy-looking robots don't have sharp angles and hard surfaces like many other sci-fi robots. Researchers want to give them robotic actuators alongside soft silicone exteriors, allowing them to flex, bend and expand.

"Shape-shifters"

Screenshot 1

Here’s the actual video to illustrate the concept, take a look:

Undoubtedly, the bots seem like living and writhing creatures. The air from the chambers determines how they move. In the future, the researchers are expecting soft robots across the moon’ surface and together set up temporary shelters.

A trend of invertebrates-like robots

NASA being interested in soft robotics is a part of a bigger trend, of which MIT showcased a soft robo-fish last year. Meanwhile, scientists are also studying about stretchable liquid metal. Furthermore, the US Army Research Laboratory is working on invertebrates-inspired flexible bots.

As for now, soft robots from NASA are far from being able to travel into orbit. However, the possibilities are there and we hope to see worm-bots exploring rocky areas on Mars someday.

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