Subsurface sampling systems for future planetary robotic missions which include reliable methods of generating, acquiring, and delivering samples to a scientific instrument for analysis are of extreme importance to the success of future in situ and sample return missions. Operating at remote locations the sampler needs to deal with a variety of disparate rock sources while being essential to deliver samples in different forms and to accommodate the requirements of a wide range of scientific instruments. Existing highly efficient terrestrial drilling techniques have limited space applications due to their need for large axial forces and holding torques, high power consumption and inability to efficiently duty cycle, and the use of rigid handling platforms. This paper describes the work performed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Honeybee Robotics for the development of a rotary percussive drill that uses an ultrasonic/sonic drill/corer as the hammering device integrated in a sampling system capable of automatic operation in a Mars environment.

A new robotic crawler is being developed for inspection of large aircraft external surfaces. The multifunction automated crawling system (MACS) has been designed and fabricated to carry miniature instrumentation to perform a wide variety of tasks while being attached to an aircraft's surface. The immediate application of MACS is inspection of the exterior of large military aircraft such as the C-5. Various inspection payload modules could be incorporated onto the MACS crawler to perform the desired inspections. MACS employs ultrasonic motors for mobility and suction cups for surface adherence. MACS has two legs for linear motion and a rotation element for turning, enabling any simultaneous combination of motion from linear to rotation about a central axis.