Designing robots for gravity-independent locomotion

Abstract

In recent years, the scientific community has had an increased interest in exploring the asteroids of the solar system (APL 1996, JAXA/ISAS 2003, NASA/JPL 2007). Technological advances have enabled mankind for the first time to take a closer look at these small solar system objects through sensors and instruments of robotic deep space probes. The in-situ study of asteroids can lead to important scientific findings in the effort to map the main asteroid belt. Mapping the belt by spectral classes and knowledge about which region on Earth the meteorites have landed can provide key clues about the origin and evolution of our solar system, even including the geological history of our planet Earth (Fujiwara et al. 2006). However, little attention has been given to locomotion on their surfaces with a mobile robotic system, due to the challenging gravity conditions found in these small solar system bodies.