Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington                   December 18, 2002
(Phone: 202/358-1979)

Carolina Martinez 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-9382)

RELEASE: 02-252

CREEPY CRAWLERS MAY UNRAVEL WEB OF PLANETARY MYSTERIES 

     Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 
Pasadena, Calif., created a micro robot reminiscent of the 
childhood character Charlotte from "Charlotte's Web." Dubbed 
"spider-bot" for its spider-like appearance, this itsy-
bitsy, high-tech critter may one day chart the terrain on 
other planets and explore smaller bodies, such as comets, 
asteroids or the Moon.

Spider-bots may also help with maintenance and repairs on 
the International Space Station. On Earth, they might fill 
in for humans by investigating hazardous materials or taking 
soil measurements on farms.

"Traditional rovers have very efficient wheels, but there 
are things we'd like to explore with legs that you can't do 
with wheels," said Robert Hogg, engineer in JPL's Mobility 
Systems Concept Development Section. "Our aim is to make a 
small, capable robot that can explore varying terrain in 
different environments; in other words, go anywhere any 
time," he said.

Like a real spider, this robot has feeler like antennas, 
which help it detect various obstacles. The first prototype 
is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Future 
versions could be one-tenth that size. Equipped with cameras 
that pan and survey its surroundings, the spider-bot has six 
legs and uses a tripod-walking gait to balance while in 
motion. In the future, depending on the kind of work it must 
perform, spider-bots may have eight, 12 or even 50 legs.

Hogg led the team of researchers developing the micro robot, 
which recently underwent its first demonstration. Small 
radio packages were dropped from a larger rover, and one was 
turned off. A spider-bot was successfully directed to 
navigate simulated Martian terrain to take the place of the 
"broken" radio.

Researchers envision multiple spider-bots weaving an entire 
communications network without the need of an existing 
infrastructure, such as a satellite. Each robot would 
continuously collect data from the environment and transmit 
the information short distances from one spider-bot to the 
next. The data could be shared by all of the spider-bots, 
allowing each one to know what is collected elsewhere.

Development of the spider-bot is true to NASA's vision to 
create evolvable hardware with many uses. "In the old days, 
if one instrument failed an entire mission might be at 
risk," said Dr. Neville Marzwell, manager, Advanced Concepts 
and Technology Innovations at JPL.

"The new approach is to have structures or robots that are 
reconfigurable, adjustable and flexible to stand on their 
own," Marzwell said. "Evolvable, reconfigurable structures 
are key to changing the paradigm for future space missions 
by increasing their functionality while reducing cost by 
becoming a multi-use robot or system," he said.

The next big step in the development of the spider-bot is 
for researchers to attach tools to the robot's two front 
legs, enabling it to perform tasks like digging and repair. 
They also plan to build a more advanced prototype that will 
move faster, climb and make independent decisions to 
explore. "In the future, we might use a hundred or a 
thousand of them at once, so they can all work together to 
achieve one goal," Hogg said.

NASA's Cross Enterprise Technology Development Program 
provided funding for this work. The California Institute of 
Technology in Pasadena, Calif. manages JPL for NASA.

More NASA information is available on the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-