Drones, autonomous vehicles," he said. Ahead of its mid-2030s target to land humans on Mars , NASA loaned three of its 6 ' Matt ' robots, which could play a part in colonising the planet, to Edinburgh University , a joint project between UMass and Northeastern -Lowell, and Edinburgh University in Scotland , to develop the robots' skills and improve their software. Initially designed by NASA seven years ago for a competition in disaster relief robots, the idea is to turn the 6 ft tall, 300 lb robots into space mechanics, capable of withstanding hostile environments. Currently costing $2m apiece, the robots need to be able to function autonomously given the complexity of the tasks they are expected to be charged with and the time delay in communications between Earth and Mars .
Ahead of its mid-2030s target to land humans on Mars , NASA loaned three of its 6 ' Matt ' robots, which could play a part in colonising the planet, to Edinburgh University , a joint project between UMass and Northeastern -Lowell, and Edinburgh University in Scotland , to develop the robots' skills and improve their software. Initially designed by NASA seven years ago for a competition in disaster relief robots, the idea is to turn the 6 ft tall, 300 lb robots into space mechanics, capable of withstanding hostile environments. Currently costing $2m apiece, the robots need to be able to function autonomously given the complexity of the tasks they are expected to be charged with and the time delay in communications between Earth and Mars .