European Space Agency develops Olympus robot dog for Mars exploration

The Olympus robot dog, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will be the new rover the organization will use to explore Mars and collect information using artificial intelligence.

The quadrupedal design model has been conceived to operate in low-gravity environments. It can jump over obstacles, stabilize itself, and “adapt to terrains that pose a real challenge for rovers, like Perseverance.”

Olympus was developed by researcher Jørgen Anker Olsen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “It consists of a system of double articulated legs that end in a padded surface.”

The robot offers additional traction and is capable of going through places that are difficult for other exploration equipment to access.

Olympus conducts successful test in the Netherlands

The Olympus robot was tested at the ORBIT headquarters in the Netherlands, “where the same microgravity conditions as those found on Mars are simulated using floating platforms on a millimeter-precise floor.”

Researchers managed to position the robot dog upside down on one of the platforms to recreate an environment with a gravity equivalent to 38 % of Earth’s.

Thanks to its AI reinforcement learning system, Olympus was able to correct its posture and make controlled jumps, then land stably on all four legs.

According to the robot’s developer, Jørgen Anker Olsen, “Olympus was able to move from wall to wall and orient itself after each jump to always land on all four legs.” These capabilities will be very useful for exploring the surface of Mars, “delving into its depths, such as Martian lava flows, volcanic caverns that would be too dangerous to explore by flying probes.”

M.Pino

Source: 2001online

(Main reference image source: Planet Volumes on Unsplash)

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