Microgravity and Orbital
24 entries. Station manipulators, free-flyers and satellite servicers, where arm motion and spacecraft attitude are dynamically coupled. Read more
Space Robotics
A reference on the robots built to work beyond Earth, and the parts, software, testing and environments behind them.
What is here
Section titled “What is here”Seventy-two flown or built systems, from Lunokhod to Perseverance, together with the parts, software, test facilities and environments behind them. The systems table sorts them by mass, traverse distance, reach and power, and the comparisons chart the same fields.
The content is cited to the engineering literature, so anything here can be traced back to the document it came from.
By operating environment
Section titled “By operating environment”Entries are grouped by operating environment because environment determines design. Gravity determines whether wheels generate traction. Light delay determines how much autonomy is required. Night duration, dust, and temperature determine service life.
Lunar Surface
26 entries. Operable under 2.6 second round-trip delay, but governed by the 14-day night and abrasive regolith. Read more
Martian Surface
13 entries. Sol-by-sol operations under 8 to 48 minutes of round-trip light delay. Read more
Small Bodies
5 entries. Asteroids and comets at roughly 10^-5 g, where landing means hopping, touching, or anchoring. Read more
Outer Planets
3 entries. Beyond practical solar power, with light delay in hours. Autonomy is the only option. Read more
Extreme Environments
Venus and other regimes that exceed the operating limits of silicon electronics. Read more
Content is cited to published sources but may be incomplete, superseded or out of date, and is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. Nothing here is a specification or engineering advice. Verify against the primary source and the current controlling document before relying on it for design, procurement or operations.