China has unveiled a humanoid robot on wheels that it envisions as being key to building a research station on the Moon by 2035.
Since the Moon’s environment is dangerous for humans, initial missions to build a base will rely on autonomous machines to ferry equipment and construction robots that can use lunar materials to build structures.
One of the proposed machines is a multipurpose robot designed to perform tasks needed for building and maintaining a lunar base before astronauts arrive.
In a new study, Chinese scientists describe a wheeled robot with a humanoid upper body developed for manipulating tools, assembling structures, and carrying out scientific experiments.
They envision the robot will help assemble infrastructure, transport materials, collect samples, and maintain equipment.
The robot’s waist rotates 180 degrees in either direction and it can bend forward up to 90 degrees.
Its hand can rotate with four degrees of freedom, enabling it to perform precise manipulation, according to scientists from the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering.
“Compared with bipedal walking, a wheeled active suspension moves faster and is more stable, providing a steady platform for work by the upper body,” they said in the study published in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration.
Scientists said that they built a wheeled robot instead of a fully walking humanoid because walking robots were mechanically complex, came with the risk of falling over, and consumed a lot of energy.
On the contrary, wheeled rovers were widely used for space exploration. “China’s Yutu lunar rover and Zhurong Mars rover have both used wheeled locomotion,” researchers wrote, adding that such wheeled robots were more practical for long-term lunar work.
The new robot comes with stereo cameras similar to human eyes that are capable of calculating depth, distance, and shape of objects by comparing images.
Its neck portion, capable of moving up and down as well as left and right, gives it a wide viewing angle.
The robot’s arms can each rotate in seven different ways, including at the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist just like the human arm.
This level of movement will be essential for the many precise mechanical tasks required to build a lunar base, according to the study.
The robot also comes with an advanced suspension that allows it to maintain balance while driving over uneven terrain with craters and loose lunar soil.
Researchers hope the prototype can act as a “reference for the research, development and application of related equipment” needed for building lunar bases.
Nasa sets new launch date for Artemis Moon mission
One of UK’s richest people building telescope to find ‘architecture of the universe’
Scientists solve mystery of what caused ultra-bright supernova
Huge, out-of-control Nasa satellite to crash to Earth today
Tiny UK island’s residents first in line to watch rocket launches
NASA crashes spacecraft into asteroid to push it off course in landmark defense test
