VolcanoBot 2
Also known as VolcanoBot
Small two wheeled tethered robot built to crawl into volcanic fissures at Kilauea and map their inner shape in three dimensions.
| Maker | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Launched | 2015 |
| Status | Retired |
| Actuation | Two wheels with a tether for power, data and recovery |
| Power | Supplied through the tether |
| Sensors | Camera and depth sensor for three dimensional mapping |
| Autonomy | Teleoperated from the surface |
The VolcanoBots are hand sized robots with two large wheels and a tether, designed to be lowered into cracks far too narrow and hot for a person. VolcanoBot 1 descended 25 metres into a fissure near the Pu'u O'o crater on Kilauea in 2014, and the smaller, lighter VolcanoBot 2 returned in 2015 with better cameras and a more capable depth sensor. The three dimensional models they produced help volcanologists understand how magma moves through the plumbing of a volcano.
Of note
- Descended 25 metres into a Kilauea fissure in 2014
- Produced three dimensional maps of fissure interiors
Maker: www.jpl.nasa.gov