Leading The Industry
Custom Space Robotics
Motiv is a trusted robotics partner of NASA, JPL and private space companies, developing some of the most advanced space robotics in use today. Motiv’s robotics are powering Martian exploration, on-orbit assembly and more.
Motiv’s Custom Robotics
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Primary Robotic Arm
At the front of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is a seven-foot long arm with five joints. It carries some of the mission’s most critical tools for analyzing and sampling the Martian surface. To design and build this critical piece of robotics, NASA turned to Motiv Space Systems.
Overview
A seven-foot (2.1 meter) long five-DOF robotic arm that carries some of the rover’s most critical science instruments. The arm’s turret holds the key instruments in Perseverance’s search for signs of life including SHERLOC and WATSON, PIXL, GDRT (Gaseous Dust Removal Tool), Ground Contact Sensor, the Drill.
Key Capabilities
Payload: 45kg (Earth gravity)
Kinematics: 5-DOF
Reach: 2.1 meters
Environment: -135°C; Martian Dust and Radiation Hardened
Accuracy: <1 millimeter
Mass: 76kg
Key Applications
Drills Martian rocks for core sample collection
Enables science instruments to take images and analyze elemental composition and makeup of Mars
Handles sample taken from surface and stows them in the rover chassis
Clients
Mission
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover
Robotics Components
Force-Torque Sensor
Custom-engineered for NASA/JPL’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, Motiv’s revolutionary six-degree of freedom force-torque sensor operates at -135°C and will give the rover critical contact dynamics information as its robotic arm collects and stores samples of the Martian planet for a future return to Earth.
Custom Robotics
xLink Robotic Arm
The first launch of xLink’s space-rated modular robotic arm system, xLink, is onboard NASA’s OSAM-2 mission. The xLink robotic arm will perform assembly and manufacturing tasks enabling the deployment of 3D printed, five-meter solar array.
Modular Robotics
ModuLink
Bringing together unparalleled modularity and advanced robotic capabilities, ModuLink is the next generation in scalable systems. Customizable and affordable, ModuLink comes with a host of mission-ready components that can tackle everything from on-orbit repairs and replacements to space junk removal.