NASA's InSight Lander, set to land on Mars in exactly a month, will utilize an innovative robotic arm to carefully maneuver objects from the ground. This "game claw" device is a simple method that allows the robot to interact and mobilize crucial scientific instruments that will reveal great information about the red planet.
Starting from an previous 2001 plans for a similar claw design, JPL engineers worked off this idea and made it brand new. They reworked and refurbished all the parts, adding high tech cameras, dexterous digits, and a joystick. However, problems arose in deciding on the optimal hand design. Three separate concepts were formulated. The first utilized grappling "toes", but was found to be easily entrenched in tricky slopes. The second employed the use of tough magnets, but resulted in the accumulation of too much dust--a major flaw during Mars' peak dust storm season. The third and most successful idea was the charm which incorporated basic human finger-like parts with superior functionality. With excellent and well-tested designs, NASA sent the arcade game into space.
The successes of such NASA missions have incredible implications in society. The highly functional claw device enables instruments to gather great knowledge this curious planet. InSight can learn swathes of information about planetary seismic data, interior energy, and the power of marsquakes. Knowing this can inform scientists further about the workings of our solar system and can catalyze our extraterrestrial human expansion of the future.
This methodology resembles closely the process VikingX undertook in determining the best machine lever. We tested different contraptions such as our electronic claw, weight/counterweight system, and combination of both. Working in subgroups, our team divided up the work to allow the most efficient options to be tested, retooled, and either accepted or rejected. Through weighing the inaccuracies and values of each design we were able to determine that the weight and pulley system was our "charm." In a similar way to the JPL operation, we have worked together to devise the best arm solution that will hopefully bring us to success in the labs of JPL itself this November.
Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7259