It’s the cutest thing since we first laid eyes on BB-8, but NASA’s Hedgehog robot actually has real-life functionality built right in.
According to NASA, Hedgehog’s cube design allows it to hop, tumble and flip around other worlds so it can easily move and navigate surfaces in microgravity. The robot is meant to explore smaller bodies, including asteroids and comets, which have little gravity and rough surfaces.
The project is the collaboration of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford and MIT. The researchers are developing Hedgehog because they realized a Mars Rover-like mechanism would simply flip itself over on a comet, rendering it useless.
Hedgehog incorporates fly-wheel design on the inside and brakes so researchers can control its movements, from small adjustments to a full-on vertical launch. It lands on spikes, which can even grip ice.
The device weighs about 11 pounds, but could go up to 20 with instruments attached. It will also be a much lower-cost option than a traditional rover.
Below, watch NASA’s video on the Hedgehog in action:
