Exploratory+Applications

**The Robotics' Explaoration**
__In Space __ The first successful Mars rover was //Sojourner//. It was launched by NASA on December 4, 1996, and landed July 4, 1997. It was the first to use a new radical landing technique whereby the impact of the spacecraft was mitigated by its placement inside a multi-cell balloon that bounced and rolled across the Martian surface, killing its momentum.



The two Mars rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity, landed on the red planet in January 2004 and are still operational, twelve times longer than their originally-planned mission of 90 Martian days. Together they've sent more than 160,000 images back to Earth and have driven a combined 10.4 miles. The Spirit rover is now stuck in a veritable dusty red sandbox, while the Opportunity rover recently caught a lucky break and had some kind of Martian wind storm blow accumulated dust off its solar panels, giving it a new lease on mobile life. At the moment, Spirit has slipped into hibernation for the Martian winter. The plan is to use it as a stationary weather platform. Obviously, both these robots have far outperformed their initial missions. The mega-geeks at JPL are basically agog at their good luck. . Our technology has taken us where our physical bodies cannot, and maybe, that's how we should explore space."


 * [[image:http://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/images/LEMUR2-250.jpg align="center" caption="Fig. 2: LEMUR IIa"]] ||
 * Fig. 2: LEMUR IIa ||


 * LEMUR IIa **

The assembly, inspection, and maintenance requirements of permanent installations in space demand robots that provide a high level of operational flexibility relative to mass and volume. Such demands point to robots that are dexterous, have significant processing and sensing capabilities, and can be easily reconfigured -- both physically and algorithmically. The LEMURs (Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robots) are designed to address these challenges.

__In the Ocean Depths __

 Underwater technology has come a long way since May of 1964. That’s when the Alvin took its first free dive—all the way to 10.7 meters (35 feet) below the surface. Today, scientists have access to a wide range of technologies that routinely carry them down to 4,500 meters (14,764 feet) and enable them to study the deepest parts of the ocean.  Human occupied vehicles (HOVs), like the Alvin, transport up to three people directly to the seafloor. HOVs are built to withstand the extreme pressures of the deep ocean and are equipped with robotic arms that scoop up marine creatures as well as seafloor sediments.  Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are robots tethered to the ship. Scientists on the ship manipulate an ROV through a long cable that connects the robot to the ship. ROVs can reach great depths and stay there for extended periods.  Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are robots pre-programmed to collect data from particular parts of the deep ocean. While they’re off collecting data, scientists conduct other research on board the ship.  Hybrid vehicles combine the best features of ROVs and AUVs. On May 31, 2009, one hybrid vehicle—the Nereus—reached the deepest part of the ocean, the Marianas Trench. It dived 10,902 meters (6.8 miles) below the surface—quite a bit deeper than the Alvin’s 1964 dive. We can only imagine what new underwater technologies will accomplish 50 years from now.



 It took a village of engineers to build a completely new type of unmanned deep-sea robot that can reach the deepest part of the ocean. On May 31, 2009, a team of engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) celebrated as the unique vehicle called//Nereus// dove to 10,902 meters (6.8 miles) in the western Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench.

 “Every square inch of //Nereus// is designed to withstand about a thousand times the pressure that we are exposed to right here on Earth’s surface,” Bowen said. “Each square inch of //Nereus// is loaded with about 15,000 pounds; that's equivalent to having three SUVs stacked on your big toe. That’s a shocking amount of energy that is trying to squeeze//Nereus// and cause it to implode.”