JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo

CADRE

Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration

The tiny wheeled rovers are designed work together to explore challenging terrain on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

2024

Type

Rover, Technology Demonstration

Target

Moon

Status

Future

About the Technology Demonstration

The Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE) project is developing a network of shoebox-size rovers that can work together to explore planetary surfaces as a team. Because of their ability to support each other, they would be largely autonomous, making decisions and acting without the requirement of constant human intervention. This would enable them to be responsive to challenging exploration objectives, potentially exploring hard-to-access and risky areas, such as inside craters and caves. It would also enable them to achieve the accuracy required to be used as a distributed instrument – when data is collected by each individual rover and then combined to fulfil a common objective.

Developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, each tiny four-wheeled robot is equipped with two stereo cameras and other sensors to map terrain in 3D and sense other rovers in the surrounding environment. When deployed on the surface of the Moon or Mars, a group of these independent robots would coordinate with one another via radio to efficiently explore nearby terrain or make distributed measurements together.

CADRE is a follow-on project from JPL’s Autonomous Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (A-PUFFER) project, which developed the multi-agent autonomy for a team of tiny two-wheeled foldable rovers that could explore hard-to-reach nooks on planetary surfaces. The CADRE technology demonstration will focus on validating that this autonomous multi-agent system is capable of cooperative exploration that could enable new science for future missions.

More about Solar System and Robotics

News .

L.A. Youth Robotics Competition Leaves Student Teams Energized

News .

NASA’s Magellan Data Reveals Volcanic Activity on Venus

News .

Engineers Keep an Eye on Fuel Supply of NASA’s Oldest Mars Orbiter

News .

Study Finds Ocean Currents May Affect Rotation of Europa’s Icy Crust

News .

Study Finds Venus’ ‘Squishy’ Outer Shell May Be Resurfacing the Planet

Image .

Radar Observations of Elongated Near-Earth Asteroid 2011 AG5

News .

NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun

Image .

Three-Telescope View of the Sun

News .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot

News .

NASA’s Juno Team Assessing Camera After 48th Flyby of Jupiter

Explore Other Missions

Genesis

Juno

Cassini-Huygens

GRAIL

Galileo

Dawn

Infrared Astronomical Satellite

Magellan

Europa Lander

Europa Clipper

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018