ATHLETE
If we are to settle on other planets in the Solar System, we will need machines for heavy lifting in all manner of environments. NASA is working on such a robot already
The All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, or ATHLETE, is NASA’s concept for a heavy-lift utility robot to help human exploration by carrying loads over long distances. Starting in 2005, the project has built and tested two generations based around an ingenious multipurpose structure. ATHLETE has six limbs fixed around a central ring. The limbs have multiple joints that allow the ends to be moved back and forth, up and down, side to side and angled around all three axes as well.