Could mini scouts be sent with rovers to Mars in future?

Nasa's next rover to land on Mars could have a little helper to help keep it safe while exploring the planet's surface. British engineers have been testing a new type of intelligent robot that can be deployed from a larger vehicle on the Martian surface to act as a scout in the surrounding landscape. They hope the scout, which is about 30 inches (76cm) long, will be used on a planned joint Nasa and European Space Agency mission to bring back samples of soil from Mars to Earth. British engineers are testing a new intelligent scout robot (shown). They say it could be deployed from a larger vehicle on the Martian surface.