Cool Robots were among the interesting technologies reported on at this
year's Arctic Science Summit Week
in Hanover. Cool
Robots are basically large cube-shaped robots covered with solar
panels. They were developed by researchers
at the Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering. The Cool
Robots are designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the Antarctic
and assist researchers by navigating over 1000km autonomously to deploy
and maintain instruments and sensor packages. Each robot is equipped with
4 20x8 ATV tires and has a very lightweight chassis, allowing it to
easily move across snow and ice. For brains the robot has two Jackrabbit
RCM3100 8-bit microcontrollers. The robot also has GPS for navigation
as well as radio and satellite modems for keeping in touch with home
base. Loads of photos
of the Cool Robot can be found in the team's website. For a detailed
description of the Cool Robot's design and construction see Alex
Streeter's 2005 Master of Science thesis. (PDF format)
Source: http://www.netchain.com
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