Micro-hopping robot for asteroid exploration

Exploration missions for small planetary bodies such as asteroids and comets have received significant attentions in recent years. In upcoming missions, it is very important for planetary science to make science-equipped robots hang around the surface of small bodies, In order to provide an exploration robot on the surface of small bodies whose gravity is very small, the authors have researched the mobility under the micro-gravity and have developed a small robot which is specialized in the micro-gravity environment. This paper describes the mobility and the system design of the developed robot and is accompanied with explanation of the strategy how to explore and navigate along the small body surface. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.