Robotics

Meet Helelani (“Heavenly Travels”), an 800-pound Alpha Argo rover built by ODG (Ontario Drive Gear) and owned and operated by PISCES. Helelani is equipped with a suite of instruments and imaging systems to maintain situational awareness and map nearby terrain during mission simulations. With an open payload design, this planetary rover can serve as a mobile platform for testing planetary surface systems in Hawaiʻi’s lunar-like analog sites.

Helelani has been part of several international tele-robotics challenges through partnerships with the Moon Village Association (MVA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Teams of students can operate the rover from anywhere in the world using command lines and a Graphic User Interface—the same technique NASA uses for driving its rovers on Mars. 

Helelani also serves as a hands-on technical project for UH college students participating in our Robotics Internship track. Interns continually develop and refine the software and hardware systems while learning skills in robotics, engineering, and coding.