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Lunar Rover for Polar Crater Exploration (Scarab)
Head: David Wettergreen
Contact: David Wettergreen (dsw@ri.cmu.edu)
Mailing address:
Carnegie Mellon University
Robotics Institute
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Associated center: FRC
For more information, see this project's homepage.
The polar craters of the moon lie in permanent shadow and may hold water ice frozen in the deep cold. The Scarab rover has been designed to carry a 1-meter coring drill and a payload of science instruments that can analyze the abundance of hydrogen, oxygen and other materials. Scarab has a unique transforming chassis that allows it to lay down on the ground to stablize a drill and also to posture itself for slope ascent and descent. Onboard software controls motions and uses laser scanning technologies to autonomously perceive and navigate terrain in total darkness.
Note: This list may not be comprehensive. It contains only those publications in the RI publications database. Entries are listed in reverse chronological order.