Sit! Stay! Fetch! Map a Martian cave!

Mars has caves that could be useful for future human colonies. These caves can protect people from harmful things like strong sun rays, extreme cold, and big dust storms that can last for a long time. NASA says these storms are so big they can even be seen from Earth with telescopes.

Scientists at AGU said that caves on Mars might have clues about life from a long time ago, and maybe even have life living deep inside them right now.

Robots with legs can help by walking on rocky ground, going into caves, choosing the best way to move, and at the same time, collecting information and making maps of what they see. This could help scientists find signs of life on Mars.

The self-guided Mars robot dog, known as “Au-Spot,” is a modified version of “Spot,” a four-legged robot created by Boston Dynamics. A team of over 60 scientists and engineers from the Collaborative SubTerranean Autonomous Resilient Robots (CoSTAR) project has enhanced Au-Spot with a network of sensors and special software, enabling it to independently scan, move around, and create maps of its surroundings on Mars.

Au-Spot uses inputs from various sensors like Lidar (a laser-based remote sensing system), visual, thermal, and motion sensors to make 3D maps. It also utilises artificial intelligence (AI) to figure out which structures to avoid and to spot objects that might be scientifically interesting.

The robot can send data back to the surface while it explores underground through a communication module. The CoSTAR team is testing Au-Spot on obstacle courses in various settings, such as tunnels, hallways, stairs, ramps, and outdoor areas that resemble Martian landscapes, including lava tubes in Northern California.

These tests demonstrate that untethered robots can navigate around obstacles and map deep caves. The scientists believe that these capabilities could lead to groundbreaking scientific missions on the surface and subsurface of Mars, expanding NASA’s ability to explore traditionally hard-to-reach locations. They presented these findings at the AGU meeting.