The “Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS)” developed by the research group of Tiago Vaquero, head of the Artificial Intelligence Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)./NASA JPL
An autonomous snake-like robot searches for signs of life on another planet. The first destination is the satellite of Saturn, which is the most likely place for life in the solar system, except Earth. This robot, with its unusual appearance and movements, plans to go not only to the surface but also to the underground ocean to search for life outside the Earth.
Tiago Vaquero, head of the artificial intelligence group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) The research team presented the results of research on the snake-like autonomous robot ‘Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) It was published on the 14th in the international academic journal “Science Robotics”.
The location that EELS will explore is Enceladus, a satellite of Saturn. Enceladus is a small satellite with a diameter of about 500 km, or 4% of the size of Earth. Compared to the Moon, it is about one-seventh its size. The surface is covered with pure ice, with a very cold temperature of -201 degrees Celsius. Thanks to ice, its light reflectance reaches 90%, making it the brightest satellite in the solar system.
Sending EELS to the small satellite Enceladus is due to the fact that there is a high possibility that there is life. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured a plume of water erupting from Enceladus’ south pole in 2005. A “geyser” was discovered, a hot spring that can erupt at any time. Scientists believe that the influence of gravity generates frictional heat in the internal ocean and creates underwater hot springs.
After NASA researchers observed Enceladus with the James Webb Space Telescope in June last year, the plume of ejected water vapor reached 10,000 km. The water column of Enceladus was found to contain phosphate, which is essential for the formation of DNA, cell membranes and bones. Phosphorus is an ingredient that has never been detected in oceans other than Earth.
Enceladus’ subsurface ocean is estimated to have a maximum depth of 10 km. The EELS will fall to the surface of Enceladus and eventually enter the subsurface ocean to conduct exploration activities. EELS is composed of a head with sensors and a body with 10 actuators. This robot is 4 meters long and weighs 100 kg.
The “Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS)” developed by the research group of Tiago Vaquero, head of the Artificial Intelligence Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)./NASA JPL
The biggest feature of the EELS is that it has spiral teeth attached to its body, so it can roll its body or move in an “S” shape regardless of the surface material, such as ice, snow or sand. The gears are turned by a total of 48 motors. This movement plays an important role in movement not only on land but also in the sea. Arriving at Enceladus, the EELS passes through the ice-covered surface and enters a geyser that emits water vapor.
EELS uses head-mounted sensors to find signs of life. The robot’s head is equipped with LiDAR, commonly used in self-driving cars, and a three-dimensional camera that obtains two images simultaneously. Two types of sensors (D) are used to analyze the terrain and surrounding objects in three dimensions.
The robot explores Enceladus through autonomous operation rather than remote control. The reason why the researchers chose the autonomous driving method was the distance from Earth. The distance between Earth and Enceladus is 1.2 billion km, so it takes about two hours for a signal to reach Earth. Since the time difference between transmitting and receiving the signal is large, it was believed that it would be more efficient for the robot to analyze its surroundings and decide on an exploration method by itself.
In the future, the researchers intend to focus on improving the robot’s autonomous operational performance to conduct successful exploration of Enceladus. “Although robots can navigate snow and ice, further research is needed on their autonomy in choosing walking methods and forming exploration trajectories. Additionally, a single robot can safely perform surface components down to the subglacial sea.” “We have to develop a system,” she said.
References
Robotics Science (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adh8332
Natural Astronomy(2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02009-6
Nature(2023), DOI:
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