Mix-and-match kit could enable astronauts to build a menagerie of lunar exploration bots

A team of MIT engineers is designing a kit of universal robotic parts that an astronaut could easily mix and match to build different robot "species" to fit various missions on the moon. When astronauts begin to build a permanent base on the moon, as NASA plans to do in the coming years, they'll need help. Robots could potentially do the heavy lifting by laying cables, deploying solar panels, erecting communications towers, and building habitats. But if each robot is designed for a specific action or task, a moon base could become overrun by a zoo of machines, each with its own unique parts and protocols. To avoid a bottleneck of bots, a team of MIT engineers is designing a kit of universal robotic parts that an astronaut could easily mix and match to rapidly configure different robot "species" to fit various missions on the moon.