By Dean Murray

Researchers are working on a swarm of RoboBalls to send to other planets .

The spherical robots would be deployed to map alien landscapes by rolling around challenging terrain.

The concept was first conceived by Dr. Robert Ambrose while working at NASA in 2003.

After joining Texas A&M University in 2021, he reignited the idea and now a small team is working to make RoboBall fit for outer space use.

Two versions exist: the smaller RoboBall II prototype with a diameter of 2 feet, and the RoboBall III, which is 6 feet across and built with plans to carry payloads such as sensors, cameras or sampling tools for real-world missions.

Driven by graduate students Rishi Jangale and Derek Pravecek, long-term goals include autonomous navigation and remote deployment.

The te

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