鈥淲E ARE learning about the awesome potential of human and robot teams,鈥� says Simon 鈥淧ete鈥� Worden of NASA鈥檚 Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Worden, his team of robots and their controllers are in the Canadian Arctic exploring the best ways to work together in preparation for crewed missions to the moon and Mars.
鈥� called K10 Black (pictured) and K10 Red 鈥� use GPS to navigate on Earth. They are equipped with laser scanners which can map the terrain up to 1 kilometre away and also carry ground-penetrating radar that scans to a depth of 5 metres.
Currently surveying Haughton Crater on Devon Island, the robots are operated by Worden鈥檚 team from a base camp more than 3 kilometres away. The exercise is testing the robots鈥� instruments and software, and the corresponding technology that explorers on the moon or Mars will use to direct them.
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Studying the human/robot interaction now will maximise the eventual scientific returns from the moon and Mars, says Worden.
