Robotics

Polar Rover blows through Antarctica

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China's Polar Rover harnesses the wind for power courtesy of a top-mounted HoYi! vertical axis turbine from Urban Green Energy
China's Polar Rover harnesses the wind for power courtesy of a top-mounted HoYi! vertical axis turbine from Urban Green Energy
Polar rover's automated driving system can run round-the-clock in extreme conditions like sub-zero temperatures, polar winds, and geomagnetic interference

While the Mars rover Curiosity may have attracted much of the world's attention of late, there are some equally impressive Earth-bound robot rovers deserving of some column inches. One such vehicle is China's Polar Rover, which harnesses the wind for power courtesy of a top-mounted HoYi! turbine from New York's Urban Green Energy (UGE) as it explores the Antarctic vastness, documenting effects that global warming is having on the continent.

Though it's not the first time that autonomous robots have been let loose on vast white expanses – the solar-powered Cool Robot and the more recent Yeti, for example – Beijing Aeronautics and Astronautics University's 1.8 x 1.2 x 1.6 meter (5.9 x 3.9 x 5.2 ft), 300 kg (661 lb) satellite-controlled autonomous Polar Rover is the first to have its batteries charged by wind power. The research vehicle made its maiden voyage last month and has already clocked up an impressive 2,500 km (1,553 miles).

The Polar Rover is equipped with atmospheric sensors, a snow sampler, and geography and geology analyzers. It's capable of ice and snow terrain identification and assessment, and can tackle obstacles as high as 0.5 meters (1.6 ft). Thanks to UGE's 1.3-meter (4.2-ft) tall vertical axis wind turbine, its automated driving system can run round-the-clock in various challenging conditions (including sub-zero temperatures, polar winds, geomagnetic interference, and cosmic rays).

Deployment of the Polar Rover by the Kunlun Polar Research Team, headed by Professor Tianmiao Wang of the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing sees UGE's renewable energy products now being used in all seven continents.

Source: UGE

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3 comments
Bruce Miller
Wind Powered eh? nano carbon super capacitor's, not Li batteries? Full satellite communications? not for military purposes? Will yield much about this huge continent of untapped resources, more amenable resources than those on say, the moon, or Mars? Even a " Practical reality" in the right hands? Oil? Gold? platinum? palladium? uranium? thorium? silver? copper? cobalt? chromium? nickel? Not so dumb China! Not so dumb.
Slowburn
Don't question the lack of frost on certain exposed components.
Stephen N Russell
Modify one for manned use IE carry 8, 10 riders from Ice base in Upscale model. Be radical ride.