Active Ankle for Use with Microspine Gripper, Phase I

Square One intends NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to be the primary customer for the Active Ankle. During Phase II, Square One will work to seamlessly integrate the Active Ankle with a walking robot, such as the Lemur IIb, currently in operation at JPL. Once a fully functional terrestrial version of the Ankle is realized, Square One will partner with a top-tier aerospace company to develop versions of the system suitable for space missions. Square One has collaborated with Raytheon Space, ATK Mission Research, and Boeing Phantom Works in the past, and will actively solicit input from these companies during Phase II. Although initial versions of the Active Ankle will be dimensioned for integration with smaller robots, this design can be scaled-up to interface with a variety of other robotic platforms. Although space exploration represents a potent and enduring market for the Active Ankle, robots are also being solicited to inspect America's aging concrete infrastructure. Regular inspection of bridges, dams, and cooling towers is essential for public safety. Current inspection methods require humans to scale these surfaces and manually examine areas of interest, a task which is both dangerous and time consuming. Integrating the Active Ankle into a walking robot designed for concrete inspection would allow it to access vertical, horizontal, concave and convex concrete surfaces with ease, thus saving time and money. More »