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Robotic Fly Will Go to Mars for Research Missions

by Engadget Staff on October 4, 2008 at 06:01 PM


You know those insect-like micro air vehicles (MAV) we've been seeing? Well, the ExoFly aerobot is based on that camera-equipped DelFly design, only this time it's gearing up for a trip to Mars -- maybe even Titan or Venus. Turns out flapping-wing flight is perfect for the low-density viscous Martian atmosphere. The current prototype -- weighing 17g with a wingspan of 350mm and flight time of twelve minutes -- is being tweaked for use in future missions to Mars.

The folks at Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University, who've teamed up with Ursa Minor Space & Navigation, plan on increasing the weight to 20g and adding an on-board solar cell, which they reckon should extend the flight distance to 15km. There's also talk of using the digital terrain and image data gathered to simulate a 3D immersive environment for detailed analysis of extraterrestrial destinations -- hopefully viewable by those of us who don't have the billions to drop on a flight to Mars. [Via New Scientist Space]

Tags: aerobot, delft university of technology, DelftUniversityOfTechnology, exofly, mav, micro air vehicle, micro air vehicles, MicroAirVehicle, MicroAirVehicles, netherlands, robot fly, robot insect, RobotFly, RobotInsect, space, TNO, Wageningen University, WageningenUniversity

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