Watch this bio-inspired Mars rover concept 'swim' through sand on curved wheels (video)

A novel approach to scouting the sand dunes of Mars is the Valles Marineris Explorer - or VaMEx. VaMEx is a project of the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The goal of the initiative is to blueprint an autonomous, heterogeneous robot swarm for exploring Valles Marineris on Mars — heralded as the "Grand Canyon" on the Red Planet. Valles Marineris is an enormous rift valley system on Mars that scientists want to scour for traces of liquid water, which may exist in sheltered niches and serve as an habitat for possible life. But the region is difficult to investigate due to its topography , which poses challenges for robotic surveying. But the VaMEx team is exploring combinations of driving, walking, and flying systems to leverage what each concept brings to the table in terms of jointly investigating a large area with varied environmental characteristics. One unique approach the team is exploring is a Mars rover that is outfitted with inventive curved wheels, which, like the feet of a desert lizard, can "swim" through sand. A Mars rover being explored by the VaMEx project features innovative wheels, which, like those of a desert lizard, can "swim" through sand. (Image credit: Marco Schmidt/University of Würzburg) A University of Würzburg research group has picked up on the sandfish's way of locomotion, adopting and adapting that movement into a Mars rover that reportedly outperforms other ways of navigating across sand. …