What it is
The JPL Open Source Rover is a build-it-yourself, scaled-down version of the six-wheel rover design that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory uses to explore Mars. It is open source and made entirely from off-the-shelf parts, with a Raspberry Pi as its brain. It uses the main driving ideas of the Mars rovers: a rocker-bogie suspension that keeps all six wheels on the ground over obstacles, a differential pivot, and six-wheel steering. JPL released the plans as a teaching and learning project, and estimates about US$1,600 in parts. The design and its build guide are on GitHub.
Our plan
We are fundraising to build one.
The Mars Yard puts a real rover on Mars-like terrain at the Cape Town Science Centre. Building one would let us take that exploring outside:
- The Atlantis dunes. Explorations on the dunes around the West Coast College.
- South Africa’s national parks. Visits to our national parks, to explore real, rugged terrain.
If you would like to help us get there, we would love to hear from you.
Image: a built JPL Open Source Rover, from the NASA JPL Open Source Rover project (Apache-2.0).