Legged Systems for Exploration

WalkingWalking robotsLegged systems \b have advanced rapidly over the last decade and have reached a maturity level where commercial applications have become viable. However, robotic exploration of celestial bodies has been performed solely with wheeled systems until today, making access to highly unstructured, compressible, and sloped areas very challenging. Thus, it is only a matter of time until walkingWalking robots will be used to explore so far unreachable regions of our solar system. In this chapter, we investigate legged systems in the context of space exploration and perform a brief overview of key aspects of the technology. In detail, we review state-of-the-art focusing on terrestrial machines and space-legged robot prototypes. We analyse the specifics of the hardware design of those machines, namely the actuation and leg design and control aspects, with a focus on model-based and learning-based control. Lastly, we analyse recent developments with regard to analogue mission deployments and locomotion tests.