| Robot Would Climb Steep Terrain |
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| NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California | |
| Sep 30 2007 | |
This walking robot could even climb under overhangs.
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The figure depicts the steep terrain access robot (STAR) — a walking robot that has been proposed for exploring steep terrain on remote planets. Robots based on the STAR concept could also be used on steep terrain on Earth for diverse purposes that could include not only scientific exploration but also military reconnaissance and search-and-rescue operations.  The Steep Terrain Access Robot would walk by use of legs tipped with ultrasonic/sonic devices thatwould anchor themselves in the terrain. The plan for the initial stage of development calls for construction of a prototype STAR as a combination of a walking robot, denoted the LEMUR IIb, that was described in “Modification of a Legged Robot to Favor Climbing” (NPO-40354), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 30, No. 4 (April 2006), page 80. The prototype would enable testing of the STAR concept on planar slopes. Eventually, a robot more like the one shown in the figure would be constructed. This robot would be capable of moving over slopes having three-dimensional features. This work was done by Brett Kennedy, Anthony Ganino, Hrand Aghazarian, Robert Hogg, Michael McHenry, and Michael Garrett of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The software used in this innovation is available for commercial licensing. Please contact Karina Edmonds of the California Institute of Technology at (626) 395-2322. Refer to NPO-41158. This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Robot Would Climb Steep Terrain (reference NPO-41158) is currently available for download from the TSP library. Login first to download.
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