Droid Archives

Remotely operated vehicle MiniROV in a simulated environment during the training of the Deployable AI developed as part of the Deployable Artificial Intelligence for Exploration and Discovery in the Deep Sea project. Image courtesy of Deployable Artificial Intelligence for Exploration and Discovery in the Deep Sea/MBARI. Download largest version (jpg, 405 KB).

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Deployable Artificial Intelligence for Exploration and Discovery in the Deep Sea

by Keith CowingFebruary 18, 2026February 18, 2026

Editor’s note: When we start to mount Astrobiology missions to explore ocean worlds we’ll need ways for our robotic submersibles to observe and interact with whatever life forms they may […]

There is no GPS at the Red Planet, but a new technology called Mars Global Localization lets Perseverance determine precisely where it is — without human help.

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

Perseverance Mars Rover Now Autonomously Pinpoints Its Location Using Generative AI

by Keith CowingFebruary 18, 2026February 18, 2026

Imagine you’re all alone, driving along in a rocky, unforgiving desert with no roads, no map, no GPS, and no more than one phone call a day for someone to […]

From left, Johns Hopkins APL engineers Tyler Radomsky and Felipe Ruiz install a rotor on the Dragonfly test model at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors

Astrobiology Droid Update: Dragonfly Aerodynamic Testing

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2026

In sending a car-sized rotorcraft to explore Saturn’s moon Titan, NASA’s Dragonfly mission will undertake an unprecedented voyage of scientific discovery. And the work to ensure that this first-of-its-kind project […]

This annotated orbital image depicts the AI-planned (depicted in magenta) and actual (orange) routes the Perseverance Mars rover took during its Dec. 10, 2025, drive at Jezero Crater. The drive was the second of two demonstrations showing that generative AI could be incorporated into rover route planning. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

Perseverance Rover Completes First AI-Planned Drive on Mars

by Keith CowingJanuary 31, 2026January 31, 2026

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has completed the first drives on another world that were planned by artificial intelligence. Executed on Dec. 8 and 10, and led by the agency’s Jet […]

Unfolding the ramps that will guide the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover onto the martian surface requires a few engineering tricks. This close-up image of the hinge shows a part of the mechanism that will swing the ramps open on the Red Planet. -- CREDIT Astronika, ESA (Larger image )

Exploration Gear & Tech, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Droid Tech: ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover Ramps

by Keith CowingDecember 28, 2025December 28, 2025

Rosalind’s lander has two sets of ramps that the rover will use to drive down and start scouting the once water-rich terrain of Oxia Planum in the search for signs […]

Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California monitor a research drone in the Dumont Dunes area of the Mojave Desert in September as part of a test campaign to develop navigation software to guide future rotorcraft on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

NASA Tests Future Mars Droids In Death Valley

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2025December 2, 2025

Next-generation drone flight software is just one of 25 technologies for the Red Planet that the space agency funded for development this year.

Scientists and robot at White Sands National Park -- Oregon State University

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mars, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

Teaching Robots To Walk On Mars From The Sand Of New Mexico

by Keith CowingAugust 25, 2025August 25, 2025

Researchers are closer to equipping a dog-like robot to conduct science on the surface of Mars after five days of experiments this month at White Sands National Park in New […]

Nighthawk Mars Chopper Concept. Nighthawk would fly at elevations of up to +1.5 km, reaching the Noctis giant volcano and its relict glacier and fresh lava flow (shown here) (Artist concept).

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Nighthawk: Rationale For A Mars Chopper Class Rotorcraft To Explore Noctis Labyrinthus

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2025April 9, 2025

Summary: Nighthawk is a concept for a NASA Mars Chopper mission to explore Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus. The region presents extreme terrain ideally traversed by rotorcraft. Although Ingenuity would not be […]

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its right-front navigation camera to capture this first view over the rim of Jezero Crater on Dec. 10, 2024, the 1,354th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The camera is facing west from a location nicknamed “Lookout Hill.” Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving

Mars Perseverance Rover Reaches Top Of Jezero Crater Rim

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2024December 12, 2024

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has crested the top of Jezero Crater’s rim at a location the science team calls “Lookout Hill” and rolling toward its first science stop after the […]

Artist’s concept image of a spacecraft lander with a robot arm on the surface of Europa. Credits: NASA/JPL – Caltech

Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Towards Autonomous Surface Missions on Ocean Worlds

by Keith CowingDecember 7, 2024December 7, 2024

Through advanced autonomy testbed programs, NASA is setting the groundwork for one of its top priorities—the search for signs of life and potentially habitable bodies in our solar system and […]