NASA engineers are working to create a new generation of robots for studying the solar system that will move on the surface of planets not on wheels, but mimicking the manner of movement of worms, amoebas and slugs.
The new generation of NASA robots that will study the surface of the planets of the solar system may not look like modern rovers, but rather like soft slugs and amoebas that will crawl, not roll, on the ground of distant worlds, according to the NASA Langley Research Center.
Since the launch of the first Soviet "Lunokhod", the design of all rovers and other rovers has remained practically unchanged - they are multi-wheeled vehicles moving on the surface of the studied planets in about the same way as their "ordinary" counterparts on Earth.
This approach extremely restricts the maneuverability of the robots, preventing them from climbing too steep slopes, descending into narrow gorges and, in general, forces operators to operate the lunar or rover with extreme caution.
Often such a "classic" design becomes fatal for spacecraft - for example, the Yuytu lunar rover got stuck on the moon after working for several weeks, and the Curiosity rover is forced to go backwards due to holes in its front wheels left by Martian stones in the first two years of operation on surface of the red planet.
For this reason, NASA in recent years has been actively collecting ideas for creating fundamentally different machines capable of exploring other worlds, possessing much higher maneuverability, "passability" and resistance to breakdowns than Curiosity and its successor, Mars 2020.
One of the first such developments may be the "amorphous robot", whose concepts and first prototypes were created at NASA's Langley Research Center relatively recently. Such devices, which NASA engineers call "robotic bubbles", simulate in their structure and principle of operation of various soft inhabitants of the seas and land on Earth - amoebas, slugs and worms.
The basis for such robots is a highly viscous fluid that is pumped through the robot using a special set of pumps and channels. The movement of the fluid causes the robot to crawl forward or change its course or shape.
Promotional video:
Other robot models may contain several other "bubbles", pumped with a special fluid that will react to electromagnetic pulses and move these balls inside the larger bubble, thereby causing the robot to move.
Similar robots can also be used on Earth, in various rescue operations for people trapped in debris during earthquakes, or in other dangerous areas of the terrain, where high reliability and the ability to move in the most difficult conditions are required.
