New breed of robots could soon wander Antarctica
ATLANTA (AP) -- Robotic rovers have patrolled
deep space and the deepest seas, but scientists are still struggling to
create drones that can overcome the multiple challenges of exploring
Antarctica.
Georgia Tech researchers think
the SnoMote - a small robot designed like a snowmobile - will be able
to deal with the nasty weather and with slippery terrain that
constantly cracks and shifts.
They envision
dozens of SnoMotes roving Antarctica's vast expanses to add to data
already collected by satellites and a handful of weather stations and
sensors.
Ayanna Howard, an associate
professor at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, has worked for two years under a
NASA grant to perfect the 2-foot-long robots.
Her
initial designs with spider-like legs proved too cumbersome to navigate
snowbanks. So she and her colleagues leaned on others' designs,
outfitting a snowmobile designed for kids with sensors, gauges and
cameras and then programming it.
She
developed a program that lets the SnoMotes negotiate with each other
and "bid" on which site to investigate, allowing them to decide for
themselves how to dole out their assignments.
The
next challenge, though, was to come up with navigation for the rovers.
Other probes tend to use distinguishing characteristics like rocks to
chart their paths. But such features can be hard to come by in vast icy
expanses.
On a field trip to a Colorado
glacier, Howard's team discovered they could use microscopic fissures
in the ice and snowbanks to guide their way.
"If you can come up with a way to classify these uniquely, you can come up with a way to navigate," she said.
Simulations
so far have proved her team's formula effective, but plenty of
challenges await when the robot is put to the test on the glaciers of
Alaska.
With Penn State University researcher
Derrick Lampkin, Howard has designed a shell that weighs 60 to 70
pounds, can withstand harsh winters and eventually could include
heaters to keep computers and wiring running in the cold.
Lampkin said his goal is to develop a "scale-adaptable, autonomous, mobile climate-monitoring network."
The
researchers hope the robots will ultimately cost around $10,000,
relatively cheap for governments, researchers and others seeking to
document changing conditions in the world's most remote places.
The
more the better: Howard said in order for scientists to say with
certainty how climate change is affecting the ice, they need plenty of
accurate data points to create climate models.
She
envisions a field of 40 to 50 of the SnoMotes wandering icy plains, a
small army gathering data to shed light on global warming and other
quandaries without breaking the bank.
"The whole concept is: How do you do this in the most affordable way?" she said...
via news.wired
