Mars is a long way away, and super expensive to get to, so if you have the very specific dream of owning your own Mars rover, it’s probably not going to happen. But if you want an EARTH rover, there’s a new Kickstarter project [1]that could deliver one once it reaches its funding goal. The Turtle Rover is a new robot[2] built by a small team that has worked on a number of Mars rover prototype projects for the European, German and Swedish space agencies.
The five-person team is seeking €60,000 (roughly $71,500 U.S.) to get their rover ON the ground (that’s a great joke), and will look to ship the vehicle beginning in April of next year, with DIY kits and fully built machines available to backers starting at around the $1,000 mark.
Turtle is a four-wheel ground drone that can drive for up to four hours on a single charge of its included battery, with control facilitated via an app that’s compatible with most computers, tablets and smartphones. The Turtle can create its own Wi-Fi network for connections when you’re off the grid, which is great, because this thing is designed for exploring off the beaten path.
It’s based on a Raspberry Pi 3 computer, running Raspbian, and it comes equipped with a full HD camera for video capture and live streaming. The design is watertight, which means, according to the project’s creators, that it can be fully submerged in water with no ill effects. There’s also a robot arm provided with the roader, which can lift up to 1.1 pounds. And it’s fully customizable, so you can incorporate your own add-ons, like the Microsoft Kinect or a LiDAR sensor for depth and...