NASA JPL's autonomous snake robot will explore previously inaccessible destinations throughout solar system

A team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing and testing a snake-like robot that could autonomously map, traverse, and explore previously inaccessible destinations throughout our solar system.

Called EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor), the versatile robot is being subjected to rigorous testing in sandy, snowy, and icy environments. It was conceived of as an autonomous snake robot that would probe the hidden ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn's moon, Enceladus, by descending narrow vents that eject geysers into space.

According to JPL, EELS could navigate diverse terrains on Earth, the Moon, and even farther realms, including undulating sand and ice, vertical cliff walls, excessively steep craters, subterranean lava tubes, and intricate spaces within glaciers.

"It has the capability to go to locations where other robots can't go. Though some robots are better at one particular type of terrain or other, the idea for EELS is the ability to do it all. When you're going places where you don't know what you'll find, you want to send a versatile, risk-aware robot that's prepared for uncertainty – and can make decisions on its own," says JPL's Matthew Robinson, EELS project manager.

Meet EELS, a snake-like robot being developed to autonomously map and explore previously inaccessible destinations on Earth, the Moon, and other worlds in our solar system.Learn how it's being put to the test in sandy, snowy, and icy environments: https://t.co/aB0StA3XI8 pic.twitter.com/GOSERFmEQe

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) May 8, 2023

Using a combination of four pairs of stereo cameras and lidar, which employs short laser pulses instead of radio waves, EELS can generate a comprehensive 3D map of its environment. The data collected from these sensors is then used by advanced navigation algorithms to determine the most secure and optimal route to proceed.

"There are dozens of textbooks about how to design a four-wheel vehicle, but there is no textbook about how to design an autonomous snake robot to boldly go where no robot has gone before. We have to write our own. That's what we're doing now," says Hiro Ono, EELS principal investigator at JPL.

When EELS reaches its final form, it will incorporate 48 actuators, which essentially function as small motors to give the robot flexibility to assume various configurations for its operations.