Inchworming Probe for Planetary Exploration

An anonymous reader writes: "Honeybee Robotics, a firm in New York's Little Italy, has designed a probe that can inchworm deep into the Martian crust or Europan ice shell without a cable to the surface for power or data. Totally autonomous. It's based on a system the company designed to weld steampipes below Manhattan. It's also just really cool."

Comments

mmm hot bit?

[ash2]

This sort of technology could be used to take 'pure' samples of things like the ice caps to check for life buried deep below.

As in the past the deep ice cores were contaminated with lubricant which lead to several fake ET lifeforms.

Could be useful here

[TrollMan 5000]

This may be offtopic, but this type of technology could even be used for the type of searching in NYC disaster. Survivors could be pinpointed and rescue teams sent straight to pockets of victims.

Re:Could be useful here

[elfkicker]

As long as it doesn't dig right through them. That seems reasonable. Of course, I'm just talking shit.

I had a pretty silly thought since some folks were using cell phones, couldn't they triangulate ACKs from digital phones by sending them messages are calls or whatever and find the concentrations of where people are? You could also call some numbers and get the ringing for a audible cue when the diggers are close.

Don't know if actually possible, but it's worth a thought.

Re:Could be useful here

[ergo98]

For sure they should be able to. In fact there was a lot of moaning and bitching that the wireless providers hadn't yet implemented their system triangulation yet (of course the government is largely pushing for it for anti-crime reasons, but they pretend it's for 911), though of course that's absurd as a) GPS portions obviously would not work under the rubble. GPS barely works under heavy tree coverage. In fact I'm curious how GPS could play a part for that. b) If triangulation can be done at the cell phone towers then it can therefore be done onsite.

It is amazing how incredibly important cell phones (and the much more expensive plane phone versions) have been during this whole event. They were a crucial pipeline of information, and in the events over Pennsylvania they are how the victims learned that the terrorist had already plowed one or both planes into the WTC.

Re:Could be useful here

[dollargonzo]

yuo are correct in yuor presumption of how GPS works, plus, even if there was communication in the other direction, the non military GPS satellites are only accurate to +/-100 ft, which in the rubble, wouldnt do much good. On the subject of GPS, the government has been wanting to implement monitors in most GPS receivers such as navigation systems tp track yuor speed and other distance / time related information. People have been protesting this, because that would mean that whenever yuo went 80 miles an hour to pass someone, the navigation system would register and notify authorities of a speed violation. People dont want their privacy intruded upon, so GPS systems are (at least in the near future, while our constitution still holds) not going to have transmitters. Although it would seem that they would be useful in these specific cases, there are quite a few MORE people who dont want to get speeding tickets whenever they pass.

Re:All About the Money

[Villain]

I couldn't agree more. There are some organizations that have been trying to put forward some commercial ideas to lure in company $$$, but they look like they could still use alot of help.