Mars is a neighboring planet in our solar system. Scientists study Mars because it could hold clues that could help us learn more about life on Earth. For decades, scientists have used robot technology to better understand Mars. In December 2020, scientists introduced a group of robots named Mars Dogs at a yearly meeting.
The Mars Dog is a four-legged robot created by the company Boston Dynamics. It, along with other similar robots, can move around in ways the wheeled rovers (探测器) that explored the planet never could. Traditional Mars rovers are limited mostly to flat surfaces. However, many scientifically interesting Martian regions are only reachable by crossing very rough (崎岖的) ground or going below ground. Walking Mars Dogs are well-suited for such challenges-even if they fall down, they can get back up again. These robots can also explore underground by walking around rocks and lowering themselves into caves. They are even capable of selecting which path to take. While they do this, they collect measurements to build a map of what they sec.
A Mars Dog would also be about 12 times lighter than current rovers. It would be able to travel much faster, reaching normal walking speeds of 5 kilometers per hour during tests. Compare that to the Curiosity rover that is currently exploring Mars. Curiosity rolls along the Martian surface at about 0. 14 kilometers per hour.
Before going to Mars, the team members are testing the robot. They even take the robot to outdoor locations similar to Martian landscapes. Those tests show that the robots, without any help, can walk around rocks and map deep caves. "These behaviors could one day enable significant scientific missions to take place on the Martian surface and subsurface," the scientists said at the yearly meeting.
