Build Your Own Earthbound “Mars” Rover

NASA’s Curiosity rover is undoubtedly one of the most amazing vehicles ever assembled. Designed to be thrust into space, land on another planet, and operate remotely, sending useful data back many millions of miles to the small spec in space we call earth, it is a true marvel of engineering. But what if you wanted to construct one yourself? This would require a vast amount of inter-disciplinary engineering skills and software expertise, as well as the tiny detail of vast sums of money.

Perhaps this type of rover is closer than you think, as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has come up with a version of its “ROV-E” educational rover platform that can be made for around $2,500. While still not cheap, this price makes it approachable for individuals and educational institutions.

The JPL-built robot includes the amazing Rocker-Bogie suspension system to keep all six wheels on the ground when moving over very rough terrain, and features a Raspberry Pi at its heart.

Being Pi-powered means that, while the default control configuration is an Xbox controller or an Android phone, you’re free to come up with your own scheme. This could be a custom console of some sort, or autonomous driving and experimentation via a camera or other sensor array.

In fact, the design is open source and begging to be modified, so while this is a good platform to start from, with some work you can make it entirely your own, roving the back yard, or maybe even annoying the family dog, with the greatest of ease!