NASA JPL rover ERNEST completes 16-mile autonomous trek

A prototype rover developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully completed a 16-mile autonomous trek across the Colorado Desert in Southern California, demonstrating advanced mobility and decision-making capabilities intended for future lunar and Martian missions. The rover, named ERNEST (Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain), covered the distance over 37 hours of driving during a seven-day test period in March, operating with minimal human intervention.

The four-wheeled, four-foot-long prototype achieved speeds up to 0.6 miles per hour, an order of magnitude faster than the autonomous navigation speeds of current Mars rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance. A key feature of ERNEST is its active suspension system, which allows it to manage weight distribution and lift its individual mesh wheels to climb over obstacles. Engineers said this capability allows it to traverse terrain that would trap rovers using the traditional, passive "rocker-bogie" suspension system employed on all previous Mars missions.

The rover can employ unique driving gaits, including squirming, wheel-walking, and obstacle-climbing, and its four steerable wheels enable it...