Not for sale
Not for sale (research)Not programmableNASA JPLScrew propulsionAutonomousIcy moons
Not for saleShipping: Not for sale.
Remote control: Not possible. JPL research system with no public interface.
Overview
JPL's snake-like concept for descending the geyser vents of Saturn's moon Enceladus and exploring lunar lava tubes, Martian polar caps and terrestrial ice sheets. Prototypes were tested on an ice rink in 2022, on the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta in 2022–2023 and in snow at a California ski resort in 2023. JPL lists the project as in development.
- Type
- Crawling robot · Snake robots
- Maker
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA)
- Released
- 2023
- Price
- Not for sale
- Status
- Not for sale (research)
- Best for
- Professionals & labs
- Programming
- No programmability
At a glance
Price and shipping
NASA/JPL research prototype.
Shipping: Not for sale. A NASA research prototype, not for sale.
Specifications
| Category | Crawlers, snakes & climbers · Snake robots |
|---|---|
| Released | 2023 |
| Country | USA |
| Availability | Not for sale (research) |
| Sales | 2 prototypes built, never sold NASA JPL ↗ |
| Programmability | No programmability |
| Built-in autonomy | Navigates · Goes to places on its own, such as mapped rooms, waypoints or its charging dock |
| LLM support | None · JPL research system with no public interface. |
| Best for | Professionals & labs |
| Vision sensors | Camera, Depth camera, Lidar |
| Actuators | Unknown |
| Audio | No audio |
| Compute type | Unknown |
| Remote control | Not programmable |
| Size | ~4.4 m long, ~100 kg (EELS 1.0, 10 segments) |
| Locomotion | Independently actuated counter-rotating screws on every segment for propulsion and grip, many-DoF body reshapes to fit terrain, screws double as propellers underwater |
| Compute | Onboard risk-aware autonomy software (hardware not published) |
| Camera | Four stereo camera pairs |
| Sensors | Lidar, no science instruments on the 1.0 prototype |
| Runtime | Tethered power and data |
| Speed | Not published |
| SDK | None public |
Common questions
How much does EELS cost?
Not for sale. NASA/JPL research prototype.
Can EELS be bought today?
No. It was never sold to the public.
Who makes EELS?
EELS is made by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA). It came out in 2023.
Can EELS be programmed?
No programmability.
Does EELS have AI chat or LLM support?
None. JPL research system with no public interface.
Ratings & reviews
Ratings and reviews load on the live site.
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