4. A new rover concept
Through 3D modeling we developed a prototype of a quadruped rover.
Starting from the initial terrestrial design, we modified the most critical parts
(especially the legs) and implemented many useful tools for space
exploration.
Thanks to the open source resources, made available by NASA, we have
equipped Rex with many of the tools available on Perseverance:
• SCHERLOC
• WATSON
• PIXL
• DRILL
• GDRT
• HGA Antenna
• MASTCAM-Z
Finally we have assembled all creating an URDF file.
5. A rover that learns its gaits
Rex gaits are made using Reinforcement Learning then exported as JSON and
embedded in a web-app.
We used the open source library, owned by Nicola Russo one of the team member,
rex-gym. Thanks to this library we were able to reproduce with a good fidelity the
environments that Rex need to navigate in the reality.
The rover learned how to walk and run on uneven terrains.
6. The interactive web-app
There is an interactive web-app where you can test Rex's various
structures and skills.
You can control the robot joints, run the learned gaits and let Rex to
assume specific poses.
The web-app is hosted here:
https://nicrusso7.github.io/rex-models/mark_I/
The source code is hosted on GitHub:
https://github.com/nicrusso7/rex-models