🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <72@tucson.sie.arizona.edu> bill@tucson.sie.arizona.edu (Bill Ganoe) writes:
>In article <8485@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>, kandt@ai-jupiter.JPL.NASA.GOV (Kirk Kandt) writes:
>>        .
>>        .
>>        .
>> "exploration".  BTW, why are the "moon stompers" less useful than small
>> machines?
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>
>         .
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>   Certainly there are tasks that little machines can't handle, but they
>still might prove very valuable for reconnoitering the area around
>a landing site.  Each mini-rover could carry one, or a few, sensor(s),
>and a swarm of "insects" can certainly provide mission robustness that
>we just couldn't afford with a big "stomper" that tried to be all
>things to all people.  Conceivably, they could even be used to collect
>material for sample return missions, although individual samples would
>be smaller than a stomper might be able to handle. 

	What would you consider to be a small machine? 
	Something 6 feet long and 3 feet high is not very small.
	If it was any smaller I don't think it would be very useful,
	it would have a hard time climbing over rocks and sand.
	Most of the room would be taken up with drive mechanics and
	computer hardware. This is if you consider it to be a stand alone
	machine.
	 A good idea would be to use robots that act as long range 
	sensors for the large robot. They would attach to the underside
	of the large robot, it would pick them up and store them.
	They would only have to be about 2 feet long and would be in
	constant contact, by radio, with the large machine. So they don't
	just wander away. If the large robot saw an object with it's
	camera, which would be about 12 feet in the air I presume.
	It could dispatch a small droid to investigate and relay pictures
	or get a sample of the object. This way the large robot could
	stay on it's course without running here and there and getting into
	possible danger.
	 I think every machine has it's place.

-pk

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