By now, most everyone is familiar with NASA’s Mars Rover and the great things it’s discovered. One company wants to bring Rover type exploration closer to home, here on earth. Turtle Rover is a robot capable of getting into tight spaces and rough terrain so you can discover new things here on earth. I’ll grant you that this Kickstarter project is probably a bit out of reach for most people but it’s still pretty interesting. While you may not be able to afford the whole robot package, the company is offering the experience of driving the robot at a decent price. Check out their Kickstarter video below.
It is a RC-robot that allows you to mount any equipment on and to record in places such as caves, water reservoirs, and ruins. It also gives you the freedom to add extensions for specific usages. This capability is made possible thanks to the mounting surface on the top of the rover, open electronics based on Raspberry Pi, and open-source code.
The casing is entirely watertight, as is the robotic arm. This enables the rover to be driven in any kind of weather and even underwater! What’s more, the rover has enough power to drive continuously for up to 4 hours!
With our mobile app and long-range communication capabilities, you don’t have to be where Turtle is. It streams a live HD camera view and lets you see where you are going, even if it’s out of your sight. The app works on any device that has access to a web browser, including phones and tablets. The range is up to 200 meters (220 yards).
In fact, the control panel design was inspired by real control centers that launched space missions, yet the simple and intuitive design makes steering the Turtle Rover even more enjoyable.
The missions seem pretty fun, sort of like a real-life video game. The company has invited us to take it for a spin so we’ll have to find some time to actually do that and will update this post with the experience.
What do you think of this Kickstarter project? Is it something you’re going to back? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1174032727/turtle-rover-worlds-first-earth-rover” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Kickstarter[/button]
