NASA Designs Metamorphosis Robots for Saturn's Moons

Mini robots able to roll, fly, float and swim, then turn into a single machine? Together, they form Shapeshifter, a developing concept for a transforming vehicle that can explore treacherous and distant worlds.

In a dusty robotics field at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Shapeshifter team tests a 3D printed prototype of this unusual explorer. A machine that looks like a drone encapsulated in an elongated wheel of hamster rolls in the yard, then divides in two. Once separated, the two halves rise on small propellers, thus becoming flying drones for aerial exploration. These 3D printed pieces are just the beginning; The team imagines a series of 12 robots that can turn into a swimming probe or a team of cave explorers.

The flying amphibious robot is part of NASA's early-stage research program, Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), which offers several phases of funding for visionary concepts, transforming ideas that resemble science fiction into Science. The JPL's chief investigator, Ali Agha, envisions Shapeshifter as a mission to Titan, the moon of Saturn, the only other world in the solar system endowed with a liquid in the form of lakes, rivers and seas on the surface of methane.

NASA's Cassini mission flew over a hundred times over Titan and outlined the surface for future missions. What Cassini discovered is a world astonishingly similar to Earth, but with key differences: Titan's rivers, lakes and cold rains consist of liquid methane and ethane (the two gases on Earth). The foggy atmosphere of the moon could also conceal caves, or even frozen volcanoes that spit out ammonia or water instead of magma.

"We have very limited information on the composition of the surface – rocky terrains, methane lakes, cryovolcans – we potentially have them, but we do not know for sure," Agha said. "So we thought about how to create a versatile system that can cross different types of terrain, but also compact enough to launch into a rocket."

Agha and his Shapeshifter co-researchers, including researchers from Stanford and Cornell Universities, proposed the concept of a self-assembling robot made up of smaller robots called "cobots". The cobots, each with a small helix, could move independently of each other to fly over cliffs of scientific interest. They could also speleology by forming a chain to stay in contact with the surface. They could also turn into a sphere to roll on flat surfaces and save energy.

For now, Shapeshifter is semi-autonomous, but its future design will depend on cobots capable of self-assembling without the need for Earth's controls.

Agha's ultimate vision includes a lander like the Huygens Probe sensor from the European Space Agency, who lands on Titan after being parachuted by NASA's Cassini satellite. This "mother craft", as it is called Agha, would serve as a source of energy for cobots and carry the scientific instruments necessary for in-depth analysis of the samples. But instead of staying in place, as usually landing gear, this one would be portable. The flight is easier on Titan, where the atmosphere is dense and the gravity low. Agha calculates that 10 cobots could easily lift a landing gear the size of a Huygens (about 3 meters wide) and gently carry it to different places.

"It is common for some of the most difficult to reach places to be the most interesting from a scientific point of view, because they are perhaps the youngest, or are in an area where the orbit is not not well defined, "said Jason Hofgartner, JPL manager. scientist for Shapeshifter.

"The remarkable versatility of Shapeshifter allows access to all these scientifically compelling places."

The Shapeshifter team will submit its concept to the NIAC Phase II selection process in 2020. However, even if it was selected, it could go on for many years before Shapeshifter goes on a moon like Titan. The next mission to Titan will be Dragonfly, NASA's first rotorcraft lander, which is scheduled for launch in 2026. Until then, Titan enthusiasts will be able to continue to follow NASA's Cassini team as they continue to sail. it unveils new discoveries about the strange moon.