SPACECAT
robots for planetary exploration
ESA / EPFL
www.esa.int

During recent years the European Space Agency (ESA) has started to develop concepts for micro-rovers for planetary missions. An ESA Technology Research Program (TRP) activity "Micro-Robots for Scientific Applications" has been dedicated to this subject. Within an interdisciplinary group of space companies and research labs new designs of micro-rovers have been investigated. Two concepts, a simple and robust one called Nanokhod and an innovative one called SpaceCat, were selected and functional breadboard models were developed and tested.

Design and Control of an Innovative Micro-Rover. Lauria, M., Conti, F., Mäusli, P.-A., van Winnendael, M., Bertrand, R. and Siegwart, R. (1998) In Proceedings of the Fifth ESA Workshop on Advanced Space Technologies for Robotics and Automation, The Netherlands, December 1-3

Spacecat, A Micro-Rover based on an Innovative Locomotion Concept. Lauria, M., Conti, F. and SiegwartR., In Video Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, USA, May 10-15, 1999.