Retractable Robotic Anchor for Hard Rock and Granular Soils

ProtoInnovations, LLC, is developing an innovative retractable robotic anchor that works in hard rock and granular soils permitting anchoring and subsequent repositioning of a lander, rover, or other equipment. Our primary goal is to support a number of mission targets to Mars, the Moon, and asteroids. This technology would be particularly useful for missions involving extreme terrain mobility, small body/microgravity mobility, and forceful interaction between a planetary surface system and its environment (e.g. drilling, digging, etc.) These missions are all ranked as High Priorities in NASA's Robotics, Tele-robotics, and Autonomous Systems Roadmap Technology Area 04 (April 2012).

A reliable solution to recurring anchoring would benefit various robotic mission concepts that are being developed at NASA. We will work with scientists and technical leads at NASA Centers to promote the proposed innovative robotic anchoring for future NASA missions, including for example exploring the South Pole of the Moon, steep terrain exploration on Mars, sampling missions on asteroids, etc.

A highly promising spectrum of uses are in securing mechanized systems, positioning transient equipment, emplacing temporary infrastructure, etc., for a variety of applications in the mining, construction, inspection, and utility industries.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 6) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.