How Robots Help Humans Go Where No One Has Gone Before

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know I am passionate about space exploration. So, I try to keep up with the latest <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.ade9548" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">science-backed news</a>, and you won’t believe what a group of Swiss engineers are up to. They’ve got these cool quadruped bots, unlike anything you’ve seen before. <h2>The Dark Side of the Moon Pathfinders</h2> Two years ago, while documenting the latest breakthroughs of <a href="https://medium.com/predict/how-artificial-intelligence-looks-for-ways-to-help-humans-settle-on-mars-c72a9a196fd0" rel="noopener">AI in space exploration</a>, I went on to cover the <a href="https://medium.com/predict/thats-one-small-hop-for-ingenuity-one-giant-leap-for-humanity-6b0225b43fe4" rel="noopener">pathfinding exploits</a> of the Perseverance rover and its aerial sidekick, <a href="https://medium.com/predict/mars-helicopter-oops-ginny-did-it-again-3e29754ad06f" rel="noopener">Ingenuity</a>, the Mars Helicopter, on the Red Planet. Since then, AI has become the new black, and we can’t stop talking about it in so many fields of interest. Recently, I’ve been paying close attention to NASA’s Artemis project and the exploration of the South Pole of the Moon, a place full of “<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/moons-south-pole-is-full-of-mystery-science-intrigue" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">science, mystery, and intrigue</a>.” The heart of the dark side of the Moon remains an unexplored area. Artemis focuses on geology, and part of the plan consists of deploying robots and other instruments to collect samples and further map the surface, namely in the search for water’s chemical signature on the moon. Ingenuity was a giant leap in challenging terrain exploration under harsh conditions. Until now, most planetary exploration robots relied on rovers. However, wheeled locomotion has its limitations, and the Mars Helicopter solved that by going airborne. On the other hand, legged robots are <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.ade9548" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">robust</a> and “can traverse unstructured, challenging natural terrains,” making them ideal for planetary exploration. <a href="https://medium.com/the-generator/legged-bots-team-up-for-space-exploration-f37b38099d81">Read More</a>