Robot designed for Antarctic studies

They envision dozens of SnoMotes roving Antarctica8217;s vast expanses to add to data already collected by satellites and a handful of weather stations and sensors. Ayanna Howard, an associate professor at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, has worked for two years under a NASA grant to perfect the 2-foot-long robots. Her initial designs with spider-like legs proved too cumbersome to navigate snowbanks. So she and her colleagues leaned on others8217; designs, outfitting a snowmobile designed for kids with sensors, gauges and cameras and then programming it. She developed a program that lets the SnoMotes negotiate with each other and 8220;bid8221; on which site to investigate, allowing them to decide for themselves how to dole out their assignments.