Toyota Develops Passenger Lunar Rover With Robotic Arm

Its launch is planned for the late 2020s.

Toyota is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on developing a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with the aim of helping people live on the Moon by 2040 and then go on to live on Mars. This is reported by Robots Buzz. 

The vehicle being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called the Lunar Cruiser, a name that pays tribute to the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV. Its launch is planned for the late 2020s.

The vehicle is based on the idea that people can eat, work, sleep and socialize with others safely in cars, and the same can be done in space.

Takao Sato
head of the Lunar Cruiser project at Toyota Motor

We see space as an area for our transformation, which happens once a century. By going into space, we will be able to develop telecommunications and other technologies that will prove useful for human life. 

Toyota describes the Lunar Cruiser's mission as achieving sustainable prosperity and expanding the sphere of human activity. However, the vehicle will face serious challenges, as lunar gravity is one-sixth of Earth's, and the Moon has a complex landscape covered with craters, rocks and hills. The Moon is also exposed to harsher conditions than Earth, such as radiation and extreme temperatures.

To counter this, Gitai Japan has developed a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser, designed to perform tasks such as inspection and maintenance. Its "gripping attachment" allows the end of the arm to be changed so it can work as different tools, scooping, lifting and sweeping.