Mars Rovers At Smithsonian And Exploratorium Now

Illah Nourbakhsh writes "From the makers of the Palm Pilot Robot Kit comes our newest thing. If you live in SF or in DC you can go to the biggest science centers of them all, the Air & Space Museum or the Exploratorium and interact with miniature Mars rovers we've put in Mars yards there. The robots take panoramic images and track and test rocks, so it's no remote-control toy. All Linux on-board, using a prototype single-board arm-based robotics board (the Intel Stayton). The website 'gallery' has pictures of all of the rover's parts, including the Linux processor and the mechanicals. Gallery also has several videos. We've built 20 of these 'bots and they're in DC, San Francisco and Augusta, Georgia." If these were in toy stores ...

Comments

The real thing

[Dan East]

Let's hope the actual landers make it safely to the surface of Mars, so these models don't end up being sad reminders of the science that could have been.

Dan East

Re:Meanwhile

[Hezaurus]

Why is it that we can brainwash the masses into thinking that it's okay for us to spend billions on space crap while ignoring the homeless people living in the streets and at the YMCA?

Why is it that we can brainwash the masses into thinking that it's okay for us to spend hundreds of billions on military crap while ignoring the homeless people living in the streets and at the YMCA?