NASA’s Axel Rover

Axel, the new rover developed by the engineers from NASA’s Jet propulsion laboratory and students at the California Institute of Technology, will now explore terrains which earlier seemed impossible, said Issa A.D. Nesnas, of JPL’s robotics and mobility section.

“Also, because Axel is relatively low-mass, a mission may carry a number of Axel rovers. That would give us the opportunity to be more aggressive with the terrain we would explore, while keeping the overall risk manageable.” he added.

What is so appealing about Axel is its design which is very simple that uses different kinds of wheels to get their grab on tough and steep terrains. It uses only three motors: one each to control the two wheels and the third one to manipulate a lever which is attached to a robotic arm that will gather extra terrestrial materials and elements for further study and research.

What adds to its effectiveness is that Axel is pretty small in size and does not walk on its own but is controlled by a mother rover. It could be seen as a big yo-yo that could be launched from its mother rover whenever situation demands.

This new rover was developed as a result of shortcomings of the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity had to face while carrying there explorations on the craters of Mars. Every time they came across a hole or a pit the scientists were tentative to go in as they feared that the rover’s solar array panels would stop receiving sunlight and would not be able to come back. So they came up with Axel, which they call a “tethered marsupial rover.”

Once it reaches its bay, it unloads its cargo, and can then be stored for later use. Such degree of mobility would mean that distances Spirit and Opportunity “walk” in months could be covered in a matter of minutes.

“Right now, it’s really risky for astronauts or robots, for example, like Spirit and Opportunity to go into craters.” says CalTech student Pablo Abad-Manterola, who contributed to Axel’s design.

The ground is too loose and the slopes are too steep. So it’s too risky for those robots to get into those craters and perform any interesting science, he added.

“So this robot would be very useful for those types of scenarios, where you can really dive into those craters, pick up some samples, and really analyze them and tell us something really new and interesting about Mars or the moon, for example,” he concluded.