Hi! Check out what I've got in the lab. It's a Lunar Rover, do you believe it?? It's the Audi Lunar Quattro and with me is the head of electronic designer. Karsten. Thank You very much for joining us.

Exactly. So this is actually the first generation robot prototype that we developed so it's a before this one. we actually had four other ones. so this is a continuous process that we started it about the end of 2008 so if we look at this for quite a while.

DAVE: 8, 8 years? KARESTEN: Almost, Yeah. DAVE: Wow So we started was a very small robot. In the beginning we wanted to have really likes shoebox size but then we figured out that it doesn't work because when you're trying to intrude, you need to transmit back some video and you need to have a certain solar panel size and this so it's very started in the beginning. DAVE: So It's all the trade off and then you realize that was too small.

Can you... can you make a shoebox sized rover? yes you can. The thing that you have to take care of it is that you need to get the data back. So if you look at the moon it's quite far away and you need to have some....

some amount of energy in your antennas to get the data back. It was a data rate that is sufficient for video because you when you're driving the moon you need to see where you're going yet. So you need to capture the video, you need to compress it, you need to transmit it and you need to have the energy for driving And this this all adds up to quite a lot of energy. Otherwise it what you could do for example is you could use your lander, the landing vehicle as a relay.

DAVE: You could, right? Is that what you plan on doing with this? KARSTEN:No. DAVE: No? So everything is transmitted from this baby Yes, exactly straight back to with exactly Mostly don't know that you can release is a bluetooth antenna for just playing around. As you all know they'll see some 40 job. So you guys are one of the probably three serious contenders left out of dozens.

Yeah, that's probably what it. Yeah and there are two other projects that are actually have tickets to the moon. No. I actually booked the space time when you look in the book? Yeah, so time for this.

So our plan was more to the first of all of what we want to send to the moon before we are going to book Rocket and not the other way around. So we are aiming to the book the flight by lots of timber and then you know if I probably by the last quarter of 2017 or maybe shifting into the first quarter of a being who with I'm currently negotiating with with different entities. So there's one option is to fly as a what's called a secondary payload on a fuckin line. Because if you are, the fucking line is a whole way too expensive.

Yep got it. About 60 million dollars you're saying if you were the only person on boy? Yep! and we're also investigating the the Indians which have very nice for good which is which is called the Psrb Excel that's a very nice workers like a tube. Oh Tell us the price. well it's between their turns you into something.

Will you hit on the bargain bargain? What was I tried to have me 21 bucks and say you're now sponsored by Audi Yeah when does that happen? So as I said, we have been working on this since like the others Nate and we developed some prototypes and by the middle of last year so it was a I think it wasn't you know someone? We announced a partnership with Audio and they have supported us. You know well, especially was technology that helps us to make the world more lightweight and it's the sexiest looking arrived I've got and by far by fire. so I already had a hand in the design. Yes right.

So it looked like I can imagine how far as this evolved from your original concept. I mean I Don't get my shoe box right. the first one was really super say so I would say tremendously. that's what the other things that are.

So one of the things we also understand if you have a small robot you can't see very far because you are very close to the ground and so all the who's our know something that you can look at all. So this was one of the first things that the prefix of a second asian we in cremated I think it's about this size since its own to sort of the current solar panel and you made it possible so we can tell the solar panel yep and we had like a head where the camera head is on so that you can look for is a God of the things that are you chasing the second generation right? Brilliant and you've got her full wheel design It yeah this is why four wheels? Well so that's a good question. You know that all the rage. So in the six .

designed with a multiple of us but yep we decided to go with a faulty design because as I said we cannot. We can adjust the solar panel to the Sun to write an optimal angle and with four wheels you can. You can turn them easily and drive sideways like this for example because what kind of the reasons? Yep another one is that on the moon you have this very fine dust called regulars when it's creeping into everything. I have any details you need to be very careful and how many exposed services you know it was four wheels.

you have less less. Lots of things going wrong arriving with that. kind of one of the reasons you got it and how quiet so this will not go to the moon. This is your engineering prototype.

This is the only one you've got the world. So thank you very much for joining by the lab with it. A whole way from Germany is designed and built inches that we're all of your desired. TVs Hello you there for we have some engineers and Austria Rights Radio Yeah and what some some people from us some from France Ok so your butt over the place but mostly we have a headquarters in Berlin Not now.

Tell us about your group. you are the part-time scientists. Yes you are now PT scientist because you're not part time anymore. There's a serious money involved in this and how many people you got working full-time them.

So we are about 12 big working full-time in our building headquarter and we got about 35 people as what contribution as part-time side got it and we also have other people that are working you know it, other entities for example we have a corporation with dealer and obviously already so there are people working at audio and a lot of the contributing to us got it. And you're using a lot of value engineering resources. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. this is gonna be cool.

You know they have all the stuff going on definitely after serving chambers where you can suck it up and on. Unfortunately not. thank you for some reason. why did I get on to whatever he does? Not in fact your car that working vacuums? yeah but it was good for you.

but they also know so there's a funny story. So very very first of our cooperation with already they are. They went to the audio design team when they told him like how we design Lunar Rovers and they made the most beautiful Lunar Rovers For people that you really bad so yeah they might have to ask. You know with some test facilities they have the shakers and all the stuff that you need to get a little bit but not not all the buttons yet so you will be hopefully the third one who books to take it.

Yep. are there any other set of coming close or is it sort of air and I don't want to advertise the other ones who my competition is always difficult to judge. you know they there's always a chance that you know what? I'm crazy billion years putting some money and some going some of the other company and then off they go. So you know.

But at the moment is three major competitors and who's going to be launched first? this is where it gets really into yeah ik so yeah hopefully that's my cat. Just like a 48 you know they have denied a launch dates. yeah we'd be kind of - so we're going to do I can that's right it's always very very you know like we are launching in the second half of the day, the late second half of the year 2070. right? Essentially everyone is flying and it's not the first to say.

but I got it. So let me know that you liked this Basic. That's not going to happen probably until the beginning of aging. So the Google Lunar X-prize You have to launch before in 2017.

Yep, that's the voice and personality first. So it has been so wet. So the current rule set is there. You need to book a launch until the end of this year, right? Otherwise you get you your script.

yes, cried like you and I can't So you gotta pony up the money by the end of the sheet. Yeah, it's like that. And the launch needs to be a with in 2017. Yep.

But for example, if ever you know if it's all of your hand you all with all the rockets, grow up a whiskey and it's going to stay later. So the launcher and happen with the the first one of the first part of 2018. Good. Now you've already won Sarah I Two prizes.

Yep, how does that work? It's not just one big 30 million bucks. winner takes all. Yes. but it was in the beginning.

So right. You know, the Google Lunar Xprize has been around for almost 10 years now. Who? And so far no one has one. So they could be together without thinking.

I mean what can we do to you have to get it keeps going and decided to do what's called a - don't cry So it was a competition within the Google Lunar Xprize and what you had to do was get to show that the components you developed are suitable for the moon environment and that's been right. You know you made a test plan about saying okay yeah you're taking care of the doctor, some of the things you have to take care of the arm, the vacuum, you take care of radiation and then you need to test campaign and a panel of space expert is looking at the test campaign and if you do all of that and they happy with the results than your money Now you get your money. Yeah and we got some money. Excellent I Say which ones which ones do you do we so what you have is on the road for mobility once in the camera once because we develop our own camera.

arm is a bit special because you get two lenses and one cent of the camera so it's all looking very promising. Yeah so this this one does use subspace great parts but you can't send this one obviously when Wendy look to be building something from scratch what once you know your estimated launch tight and yes are you working on now So just this model years as an engineering. While it has almost thing almost all the components that you need to get to the moon. so the aluminum and all the materials that are in there made for space.

Just some of the electronics is not space great. The component is God's that's designed in such a way that you can really easily replaceable space. Great stuff. But I separate.

You know guys, you need one here on the ground - yeah you know nobody ever doing you know. So I until the end of the year we are going to move to more of those robots which are closer to what we're going to send to the moon. In this world those would be what's called promofly to the unit. Yep, 45 model will get better.

We'll be there. Oh yeah, what we intend to look like is a dish. terrible dishes. So - it's very interesting at all.

that's the wrong shape about your size and it can steer in one direction and this allows us to have a sudden like there's a link to one of those comments 34 Me: just a sec alleges that you have in your backyard right yet and this horse has to have a lot to make up with of you did a nice ok because you've got to send back real-time video. Yeah, you have my resolution. HD Video: I will talk about what yes so much the required. So the requirement for the real talent video is quite interesting to test.

me I think it's a quarter of a huge The Vga? Yep, where's resistance? Is a frame rate sufficient to to show moving a ride all right does not use. If you if you have 100 per second you cannot move, you know ten seconds per meter per second are right, You know yet? but it's already time to do. If you want to, you know you know drive as fast as we want. You know where is our street .

6 km/h Then you need to have a higher framerate. terrific. Any other major hurdles still not overcome or you're pretty confident that once you get a rocket you can launch his puppy. Now we are.

You're pretty confident that we have no all the knowledge and all the components together that we can. We can both of space out there and go to the moon. Has anyone got any? Yeah, I got a Boffin there that's calculating the odds of success. Yeah, so it's not something you want to do.

well you know we. This is a very it gets you know. Very tricky. So right? So we want to.

We want to make a mission that is affordable that we can finance and so we have to be very careful in which components we are shooting for. Something you can love you. No qualified components which are extremely expensive but have a higher reliability. Got all you can.

You can design it in such a way that you know you know certain things are about to fake it. For example, one of the very simple things that there's a lot of faith is a rover because we have something extra to roll over. So what we got our you said me too yep oh hey yeah you are sending - yeah double shot. yep even the one land.

Oh yeah oh ok right but you've only got one shot on the land. Yeah Ik tell us about the lane because this thing obviously can't just fly through space and you know and then just unite land. So what's what's the land gotta look like So the windows. So it's something that we are going to show on the LA pretty soon which is okay next week right? So she was Secret at the moment medium secret and and and I can imagine yourself story does it look he's a spider-like is in a polo spot and I it looks.

you know it looks pretty sleek. I Have a ride. Ok because it's already in this locality, it's not anybody's looking. still pretty sleek and all right on it.

Well I'm that the people are in engineering people have got some of the good medicine for making it looks like but in function at the same time. So it's the letter is essentially you have four tanks and you have six and eight engines at the bottom. Yep, and the robots are sitting on the side. So and then when it's launching when its lending on the mood.

so the let's start a little earlier. so the rocket gets us to do our orbit and the lender then goes to goes into a more guys into lunar orbit. sighs I'm not a direct so itself to Apollo type Yeah sure yeah and from the from the moon orbit we are descending to the surface and this is what's called a soft landing which is which means that we can shut off the engine and about five meters about crab off the land available drop down and so the rumors are sitting on the side and they had applied like like this leads I coming down to the end. that's what is here and then check.

Ah got it right. So did we don't use any ramp or anything like this God What happens if it lands upside down or you will if it's almost? yeah so many. There are many risks that right there were many chances to fail. But yeah farm.

I Think that one of the reasons we we have a good have a good idea of where to go and experience because we're ending at the pool of 17 and this there's many many many many data of all the troubles. Little belly which up on the 17 is of course because they would probably the best out of all the people I missions right because that was the last one. Yeah so you also there. So the little reconnaissance orbiter is also taking very high high high rating is yet because they want to see what's there and stuff like that.

So although I've seen those fires you can just make out a few pixels of the later and stops outside your fire and made of pics or something is yeah it's a yeah it's half a meter per pixel that you can see from your former a pixel resolution right? But uh what's more important is actually the arm the depths. So it is. There is very high definition depths to rain. Very conceited, always there.

What? What is the slope that your that you need to climb 20 for example and this is for example less than 10 degrees. You know the terrain is pretty flat so it so you don't want to flat terrain yeah you can even than almost anywhere. and no there's a good chance that you will not learn on the crater that you know has some crazy stuff going on. Got it And it's It's off the ground like this because you want to avoid rocks which are typically if you got like to get the average size rock might be this big and we'll just you know you can drive around and under.

The particular mission about the Apollo 17 landing site is also that there are many pictures. You know the parameters exactly so you know what the thought the rock distribution looks like and so you can adjust your mobility system such as you can handle all of that. And did. The basic idea behind our design is actually not to climb over those hills but actually more like to avoid them.

Got it? Yeah, so I e How close I got a way to the Apollo 7? So Lana this is a this is very interesting. So oh yes there are there. They are historically protected landmarks on white. well they're calling off.

There's going to some they want the division whether you want to be with us anymore. Yeah, there's there's no law that you will get you around tonight at eight years, but sadly it's just very unpleasant if you enjoy just not divert policy. And yeah, so there's a Thursday Apollo 17. The Heritage guidelines awry like I'm writing it basically says that if you're lending you need to be with an outside of her to give it up a perimeter.

Now I don't know that. That's just say why Yeah it again ok and so now I'm So we are approaching it from the from the south so we are all in. This is going this way. You're not allowed to approach you know in a way that would put could potentially if it goes wrong then right hit it.

So you need to go interesting All right. Yeah, it's really good. and then some of your lending about two to three kilometres southeast of Apollo 17 vending side. yep and then your arm and you're not allowed to drive up to it straight but you have to the exact to it and within 200 metres of the lending what you do or you can go.

And the interesting part is that the Lunar Roving vehicle is actually standing about student safety reasons. a ride on their living would say you can go up and say hi to the other those are all going to write this is just one of the original yeah this is what you want to do because yep interesting possible to going back to the Apollo 17 any site is not just be done with it all becomes very serious but also to check up on the hole hunters can I was the highway for years old. Seven houses survived how much limited dust is on it? That'll tell you a lot exactly. You know, like well that should make you should be any right now because there's nothing else to kick up the dust unless there's other impacts business.

This is where it gets very interesting. So for example the In Serie you would not expect to have a duplication. Also for the first time they were the Millers. Well on the surface, but you're an expert in the decoration.

but there is duplication and so one of the interesting things is that there's the series that with a with a night when the night comes there's some electrostatic fields going on. that question. Yes, it was still just will be attracted by the electrostatic fields. Yeah, and so there's some little things that are going on.

Is this just a theory? Is this actually looks of this? So the Apollo missions extra you the many of them reported that they have seen some shine going on with the sunset ik but there's not a conclusive data years ryan from the surface so that one doesn't get what you're going to do. Yeah, terrific. So you're going. There is a bonus like four million dollars or something if you could happen if you can photograph the Apollo landings and we had a few million of their to ride it.

Yeah, but in the end you know our mission costs are some more than that anyway and we don't care about the money. Can I get ya? you want to do? We want to do proper science and this is for example, why some our hour then sell them in the middle one. This is so interesting. Its intelligence, Yeah, but it's a black and white sands.

Oh, and there's a foot of you in front of it. Interesting, you know. get the different colors. Yeah, we can look at nine different spectra and make some material composition analysis or four for half the whole.

interesting. Okay, but you've gotta return. Hi res color video. Yeah, don't you know we really going to try resolution pictures But right? Ok yeah.

God of you. Yeah. and you also want so that the crossing about the rover's that actually has some payload capacity right? You can take some additional Now the instruments for example to surface of the Moon go back and do some more science. Got it? And I can just plug into your system and transmit the data back.

So we just we don't just want to go around, go back and fuck around but you also want to do science. Got it? Fantastic? Well I hope it works. The odds of success gonna be high if they can lay in the Curiosity rover with that convoluted concept. Nice engineers just freaked at that.

Yeah, if I can land that I reckon you can land this role of it's gonna be exciting year so hopefully they could be. three. At least three missions are probably going to be bought. Yeah, it's on.

Yeah, Yes, I was just one of the things that we want to do as well. You want to make this not just a one-time occurrence, but I want to make a we want to make a business case of it because what's interesting is that either want to build the moon village right? right? And so the European Space yeah, the new train station and what's with the invitation to this is something that we think is a very good idea. It's also and we want to help it have them Fantastic! Well I wish you the best of luck. Thanks Excellent and stick around because we're gonna do some more video.

I'm talking about technical stump Also these classes what types of this radiation are they so there are so depends on where you are So if you are for example if you are cute that friend and you know that there is the lower orbit which is about 2 300 to 800 kilometres and in that you you have the inner barrel of the van and boat.