Now a story from ESA on what future lunar rovers could do.

The Autonomous Robotic Networks to Help Modern Societies (ARCHES) from the DLR, the German space agency, aims to develop robots that can do their tasks autonomously to support or replace human astronauts in dangerous situations. A collection of five robots – four driving and one flying – completed three scenarios on Italy’s Mt. Etna, a volcano that vaguely resembles the lunar surface.

The robot team consisted of a “scientist” that was equipped with a laser spectrometer, used to identify the rock samples by hitting them with a laser. Another robot, which the team called the “assistant”, brought samples to the “scientist” robot and also stored tools. A third robot was designated “scout” and acted as a wireless access point to keep both robots in contact with each other and the ground at all times, in addition to scouting ahead.

One scenario mimicked the current exploration paradigm, where the robots are monitored from Earth as they do programmed tasks. The second scenario involved more direct human involvement, simulating a human controlling the robots from a station in orbit of the planet. The third scenario was completely different, involving robots assembling a radio antenna. Such an antenna is planned for a future human base on the lunar far side.

The fourth driving robot was used by itself in a completely separate scenario; it had a remote manipulator with the ability to provide haptic feedback to a human user. This technique helps with identifying rock samples. The team also used a drone to monitor the robots but was not actively part of the demonstrations.

More Information

DLR press release