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When your office environment is genuinely filled with people who are rocket scientists, chances are that you’re bound to come up a bright idea or two. Such is the case with JPL’s ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) robot, which was developed by JPL with the help of Boeing, Stanford University, and NASA’s Johnson and Ames Centers. According to the NASA ATHLETE project page, JPL has been hard at work on a new autonomous robotic vehicle concept that combines six legs (capped with wheels) that each feature six degrees of freedom (DOF).

The current version has a paylod capacity of 450 kg, but future variants will be larger and more capable. JPL hopes that robotic vehicles developed under the ATHLETE project will eventually be able to cross most terrain types, have a 10-year life cycle (under hostile conditions), and “Demonstrate a useful ‘voice and gesture’ command mode to enable suited astronauts to interact with these vehicles.”

It all sounds very impressive, but let’s be honest: I’m sure at least one NASA engineer has entertained the thought of covering this thing with brown bristles, slapping on some plastic fangs, and sticking on some LED-powered peepers. What better way to scare the bejesus out of your neighbors at Halloween than to have a monstrous robotic tarantula-like thing at your beck and call? (And yes, I do know that tarantula have eight legs, not six. Don’t mess with my feeble attempt to turn this into the ultimate Halloween prop.)

Check out the NASA/JPL ATHLETE rover system page for some additional photos and video clips of this impressive new robot in action.

_{(Photo:© NASA/JPL Source: JPL ATHLETE rover system page) [- Jeff James]}

According to a news release over at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a vessel (loaded with a few robotic submersibles) will soon be headed to the Arctic to search for signs of life on what WHOI dubs “…the seafloor of the world’s most isolated ocean.” The Swedish icebreaker Oden will serve as the transportation for a 30-member research team and a trio of new autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) developed for the mission: the Jaguar (pictured), the Puma and the CAMPER.

The 40-day mission — officially called the Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition (AGAVE) begins on July 1st. One wonders if the WHOI folks anticipated a mission acronym that reminds people of tequila (which is created from the fermented sap of a blue agave plant) more than deep-water hydrothermal vent research, but I digress.

The Chief Scientist of the mission is WHOI geophysicist Robert Reves-Sohn, who summarized the focus of the mission in this comment from the news release:

“This is an exciting opportunity to explore and study a portion of Earth’s surface that has been largely inaccessible to science,” said Reves-Sohn. “Any biological habitats at hydrothermal vent fields along the Gakkel Ridge have likely evolved in isolation for tens of millions of years. We may have the opportunity to lay eyes on completely new life forms that have been living in the abyss beneath the Arctic ice pack.”

Kidding about the mission acronym aside, this expedition looks like a promising use of robotic technology to help researchers unlock the secrets of life in extreme environments, which could have numerous benefits for robotic exploration in other areas. NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) must agree, as both are contributing significant amounts of funding for the program. (Source: WHOI) – [Jeff James]

We’ve all heard of Muppets in Space, but will the Linux Penguin have the right stuff? Here’s why: According to a write-up over at LinuxDevices.com, NASA has turned to LINUX to power at least one of their prototype robotics projects.

The Linux-powered robot (dubbed the “K-10″) has been spending some time out at that giant meteor crater in the Arizona desert testing extra-vehicular activity (EVA) hardware and software. NASA also details some of the other projects that they’re testing in the crater — under the Desert Tests 2006 initiative — over at their Robonautics website.

Check out the LinuxDevices.com story and the NASA project page for more information. (Source[s]: LinuxDevices.com, NASA) - [Jeff James]

After the failure of the Beagle 2 Mars mission in 2003, it looks like ESA isn’t ready to give up on sending a robotic explorer to the red planet so easily. According to an article by Claire Smith in the Scotsman, Bridget — a newly unveiled prototype measuring 10′ x 6′ and sporting six wheels — will be going to Mars via a 2011 mission.

One of Bridget’s primary missions will be to search for amino acids and other materials, which could provide more information on whether there is (or was) life on Mars.

Check out the full article over the Scotsman for more details. (Source: The Scotsman) – [Jeff James]