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The primary application focus for the Loris robot is space exploration, specifically navigating steep cliff faces, subsurface lava tubes, and caves on the Moon or Mars.
The climbing robot named Loris uses microspines, which are arrays of small sharp hooks, as its adhesion mechanism to attach to surfaces.
The grippers on the Loris robot have two sets of microspines positioned at a 90-degree angle to each other.
The 90-degree spine arrangement on the Loris robot's grippers enables them to support forces from various angles, in contrast to conventional microspines designed for straight-line force application.
The Loris robot generates additional preload for enhanced adhesion by applying inward forces between its feet on opposite sides of its body.
The tail on the Loris robot provides leverage to prevent it from falling backwards, thereby reducing the adhesion force required from its grippers.
A key design principle of the Loris robot is under-actuation, which is used to reduce mass by minimizing the number of motors needed.
The grippers on the Loris robot are fully passive, generating force by using the robot's existing leg motors instead of dedicated gripper motors.
A climbing robot like Loris could access sedimentary layers on steep cliffs on Mars, which would allow for the observation of the planet's geological history.
The Loris robot's development team is currently working on autonomous path planning and foothold selection capabilities.
The Loris robot uses a depth camera to build a map of the surrounding terrain for its autonomous navigation system.
The development team for the Loris robot is working on using sample-based planners to find a safe route using the map generated by its depth camera.