Planetary Rover with New Suspension System: All-Terrain Locomotion | NASA/JPL
Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain (ERNEST) is a four-wheeled planetary rover concept equipped with a two-degree-of-freedom active gimbal suspension that combines yaw and roll actuation to enable wheel reconfiguration, steering, and active load redistribution. It has been in development at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 2022. The footage here is from tests done at JPL in 2025.
A single neural network controller, trained to track a desired path across challenging terrain, unlocks the capabilities of this actuated suspension system for autonomous obstacle negotiation.
A reinforcement learning framework was developed using a high-fidelity simulation engine from JPL’s Dynamics and Real-Time Simulation (DARTS) Laboratory combining rigid-contact dynamics and Bekker-Wong terramechanics, enabling the emergence of locomotion strategies adapted to loose-soil conditions.
Experimental results demonstrate autonomous traversal of rock fields, a bump trap, a wheel-high step, sand ripples, and sandy slopes.
Work on ERNEST was initially funded by JPL internal research and development funds and is now supported by NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.
Learn more about ERNEST: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-testing-advanced-capabilities-for-moon-mars-rovers/
Duration: 4 minutes
Release Date: June 18, 2026
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