This little robot could one day explore the furthest reaches of other planets

Loris has already been tested on cinderblock, vesicular basalt, slag and tufa surfaces. — Courtesy of The Robotics Institute/AFP Relaxnews

Researchers in the US are working on a lightweight robot designed to explore extreme terrain, including the next celestial bodies to be studied by humans.

The Loris robot (for "Lightweight Observation Robot for Irregular Slopes") has been designed to explore terrain that conventional rovers and astronauts will not naturally be able to reach when they go to the Moon, Mars or other celestial bodies. It is the work of researchers at the Robotics Institute, a division of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.