Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology have created a robotic dog that is trained to always land on its feet, no matter the height from which it falls or in what position. This is how cats behave in nature, and this skill will be useful for robots for exploring small cosmic bodies in low gravity conditions.
Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 3.1/3DNews
Asteroids have already hosted landing modules, but not a single rover was on them. Small bodies create weak attraction, which makes it impossible for the wheels to grip the surface. Jumping robots could solve the problem of exploration on asteroids – this could become a valuable resource for the exploration of the solar system. The asteroids are believed to be rich in metals, including precious metals such as gold and platinum.
Scientists from China have undertaken to train a robotic dog to always land on its paws. They abandoned the use of weights and control of the robot’s center of gravity. Instead, they created a special carousel in the laboratory that simulates the jumping of a robot dog in zero gravity. The robotic dog attached to the carousel learned to dodge in flight and manage to turn its paws towards the landing site. He was taught to do it in 8 seconds. On asteroids, the robot is expected to be in a jump for about 10 seconds.
Of course, the success of moving around the asteroid will depend on the terrain. It will obviously not be a level table, like in a laboratory. Nevertheless, the work showed the promise of the proposed method, and it cannot be ruled out that by the end of the decade China will be able to organize the delivery of a robops to some asteroid interesting for field testing. In addition, the acrobatic stunts did not require large computing power – the robotic dog managed just fine with the on-board processor during training.