Hybrid Aerial/Rover Vehicle

A proposed instrumented robotic vehicle called an "aerover" would fly, roll along the ground, and/or float on bodies of liquid, as needed. The aerover would combine features of an aerobot (a robotic lighter-than-air balloon) and a wheeled robot of the "rover" class. An aerover would also look very much like a variant of the "beach-ball" rovers described in "Lightweight 'Beach- Ball' Robotic Vehicles" (NPO-20283), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 22, No. 7 (July 1998), page 74. Although the aerover was conceived for use in scientific exploration of Titan (the largest moon of the planet Saturn), the aerover concept could readily be adapted to similar uses on Earth.