During tests in the desert of Southern California, the new four-wheeled prototype of NASA's rover overcame 25 km in a little more than a day and a half. The device independently overcame difficult obstacles of uneven terrain thanks to the latest decision-making system and a unique suspension design.
The prototype was named ERNEST (Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain, "Research rover for navigating extreme sloping terrain"). It was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) NASA to enable fast and efficient movement through complex terrains during future lunar and Mars missions. During seven days of field testing, ERNEST moved at speeds of up to 1 km/year, which exceeds the capabilities of previous rovers by about an order of magnitude. JPL scientists believe, that on the basis of this platform it is possible to create a full-fledged scientific apparatus for the study of other celestial bodies.
Engineers abandoned the traditional rocker-bogie suspension system, which was used over 30 years. Instead, ERNEST is equipped with a system of dynamic weight redistribution between four steerable wheels. Thanks to the front hinges, the device is not only capable of driving, and "crawl", wheel step and move sideways. The current version of the rover has compact dimensions — the length is 1,2 city. Artificial intelligence algorithms are used for autonomous orientation in space, which allow the rover to learn from its own mistakes while interacting with the environment.
Algorithms were tested at JPL's special Martian site, and the final test was a 37-hour autonomous drive through a real desert, in particular in conditions of total darkness. Such tests allow you to check the operation of the device in conditions of long shadows, characteristic of lunar dawns and dusks.
WITH 1997 NASA sent five autonomous rovers to Mars, particularly Curiosity (2012) та Perseverance (2021), which continue to work. The US space agency is counting, that an enlarged and improved version of ERNEST would carry out the first mission to the Moon.
Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov