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Can't believe that video is >10 years old. The 'big wheels on a pancake' form factor is easily available now in <$100 toys but inexplicably I don't see anyone u

Can't believe that video is >10 years old. The 'big wheels on a pancake' form factor is easily available now in <$100 toys but inexplicably I don't see anyone using the lever+piston design for upward locomotion...although I suspect it can only pull that trick once or twice on a single charge. I am very much with you on the 'numerous and cheap' approach to space exploration. That said, the minimal viable robot for and environment like the Moon is not an easy spec to meet, since it needs to operate in wild extremes of temperature that are hard to test for. Then again, cubesats built with very cheap hardware have proved surprisingly versatile.

samstave 3y ago
Jiminy crickets, I am also gobsmacked for it being that long ago... I forgot about this. I wonder if the tech was "squashed" because of the implications? If that little jumping mechanism were some small, cheap, open-sorce thing, I can only imagine it being weaponized... However check out this cool vid on Worlds Highest Jumping Robots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daaDuC1kbds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daaDuC1kbds
yencabulator 3y ago
> [...] environment like the Moon is not an easy spec to meet, since it needs to operate in wild extremes of temperature that are hard to test for. Then again, cubesats built with very cheap hardware have proved surprisingly versatile. Perhaps the worst part of the lunar operating conditions is the dust. Very small particles, very abrasive, static clings to everything. Cubesats don't encounter dust. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/when-the-moon-dust-settles-it-wont-settle-in-vipers-wheels/ https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/when-the-mo... https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/dust-an-out-of-this-world-problem/ https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/dust-an-out-of-this-wor...

samstave 3y ago

Jiminy crickets, I am also gobsmacked for it being that long ago... I forgot about this. I wonder if the tech was "squashed" because of the implications? If that little jumping mechanism were some small, cheap, open-sorce thing, I can only imagine it being weaponized... However check out this cool vid on Worlds Highest Jumping Robots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daaDuC1kbds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daaDuC1kbds

yencabulator 3y ago

> [...] environment like the Moon is not an easy spec to meet, since it needs to operate in wild extremes of temperature that are hard to test for. Then again, cubesats built with very cheap hardware have proved surprisingly versatile. Perhaps the worst part of the lunar operating conditions is the dust. Very small particles, very abrasive, static clings to everything. Cubesats don't encounter dust. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/when-the-moon-dust-settles-it-wont-settle-in-vipers-wheels/ https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/when-the-mo... https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/dust-an-out-of-this-world-problem/ https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/dust-an-out-of-this-wor...