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CASE 10 / Rescue & exploration

ReachBot: finding anchors with extendable booms

Microspine grippers at the ends of extendable booms find anchors on rock surfaces.

Stanford · ReachBot2024
ReachBot prototype in Stanford’s demonstration environment.
ReachBot prototype in Stanford’s demonstration environment.Stanford Robotics Center / BDML and ASL

Watch the video

Rock-climbing mission concept animation; experimental photographs below. · NASA Space Tech

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01 / STUDY

Mechanism and experiments

ReachBot uses extendable booms as supports, with microspine grippers contacting rock. The reported 2024 field tests in a Mojave Desert lava tube used a single boom and gripper mounted on a tripod.

02 / CONTEXT

Test conditions and scope

Field tests used teleoperation to evaluate the single boom and rock grasping. Lab prototypes, field component tests and planetary-cave concepts represent different stages.

03 / SOURCE

Papers and primary sources

ReachBot Field Tests in a Mojave Desert Lava Tube as a Martian Analog
Tony G. Chen, Julia Di, Stephanie Newdick, Mathieu Lapotre, Marco Pavone, Mark R. Cutkosky
IEEE ICRA Workshop on Field Robotics, 2024 · arXiv:2405.15005

Further reading

EXPERIMENT / IMAGES

Experimental images

Teleoperated single-boom tests in a lava tube, with a tripod, boom and gripper.
Teleoperated single-boom tests in a lava tube, with a tripod, boom and gripper.Stanford Robotics Center / BDML and ASL