14 DAY TRIAL // Team Italia is one one of the 17 crews that have enlisted in the $30-million-worth Google Lunar X Prize, and which have to send a robot or rover to the Moon by 2012. The demands are fairly simple: create a rover or other form of moving robot that can travel more than 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface and that can send back high-definition images of the surroundings. The challenge is not necessarily constructing such a device. Getting it there is the most complex phase of the operation, as is deployment as well. Once the robots are safely landed on the Moon, they will undoubtedly be able to complete their appointed tasks.
Alberto Rovetta is the Italian expert around whose vision all the country's efforts have rallied, Space reports. He envisions the creation of robots resembling spiders in aspect, able to be deployed in swarms and to be outfitted with a large number of sensors and/or cameras on all of their legs. This radical design is a bit different from all the other rover models set forth by competitors, and might just land Team Italia the prize. The crab-like machine will be able to overcome larger obstacles than their wheeled counterparts, Rovetta, who is a Politecnico di Milano professor of robot mechanics, believes.
The real accomplishment of the Italian team is that the scientists involved in it have managed to get a lot of support from both the public and the authorities, and have already enlisted the cooperation or direct help of several large universities, as well as that of the two largest aerospace companies in the country. A large number of engineering research institutes have also rallied with the initiative, so chances are that, if the spider-bots are created in time, we could see a real surprise when the competition concludes.
“New technology would add to the cost, but it all depends what will be available to us. Of course, we would love to test new technologies and new robotic things. What we are trying to leverage is that most of aerospace community in Italy is behind this project. We really want to give an Italian flavor to the undertaking. One of reasons behind this is that Italy is playing a driving role in Europe in exploration matters. This is meant to strengthen the role and reputation of Italian aerospace community as far as exploration is concerned,” International Association for the Aerospace Culture (AICA) President Piero Messina told Space.
“The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31st, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31st, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31st, 2014,” a press release on the contest's webpage says.