DEPTHX - Robot Map: The Pulse of the Planet daily radio program offers free legal online mp3 downloads, exploring the world of sound in nature, culture and science, with audio adventures, world music, extraordinary sound portraits, science diaries, and nature ring-tones; an amazing sonic experience.



Airdate: Aug 22, 2007
Scientist: Chris McKay

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 TECHNOLOGY ,SPACE ,Robots ,Biological Productivity


DEPTHX - Robot Map

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A self-navigating robot maps underwater areas too dangerous for human researchers.
Transcript:
Music
Ambi: underwater from DEPTHX1

Were listening to the sounds of a robot thats exploring the worlds deepest sinkhole, Zacatn, located in central Mexico. Im Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at Ames Research Center, is part of the team that developed the DEPTHX robot. Researchers hope that a robot like DEPTHX will one day explore Europa, a moon of Jupiter, which may have liquid water beneath its icy crust.

Zacatn is interesting in a connection to Europa, I think, in two ways. One is in a physical way. When we finally do get through the ice on Europa, were going to be going down a tunnel or cracks, navigating through the ice into the water below, so we need a robotic technology that allows that sort of navigation and autonomous decision making as it swims through the structures of the ice cover. If theres life on Europa, that life is surviving without oxygen and without sunlight. So theres a lot of interest in exploring ecosystems on Earth that may be biological models for how life survives in environments without oxygen and without sunlight. And Zacatn has the potential to be one such interesting ecosystem.

Because it explores places which have never been seen before, the robot must do its own navigation, using maps that it creates as it goes. In order for scientists to get any data from DEPTHX, the robot must not only explore and map the new environment, but also be able to find its way back to the surface unaided.

The robotics components of Depth-X are working pretty well. Theyre able to autonomously map. Theyre able to figure out where they are. Theyre doing a lot of things that a vehicle on Europas going to have to do.

Well hear more about the DEPTHX robot in future programs. Please visit our website at pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from NASA. Im Jim Metzner.







 
DEPTHX - Robot Map