Machines Like Us

A robotic arm built by Welsh scientists will play a key role in the next European mission to search for life on Mars.

Specialists at Aberystwyth University are programming a robotic arm which will be sent to Mars to take and analyse samples for signs of life.

A scale model is being tested in a special laboratory on the campus, designed to replicate the conditions on the red planet.
Aberystwyth University computer scientist Dr David Barnes, who is making the arm “smart enough” to be directed on location on Mars as well as from Earth, believes there is a strong chance that extraterrestrial life exists.

“There is no logical reason why there should not be,” he said. “We are trying to find out if there is, or has there been, life on Mars.”

Read full story at icWales.