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The Armstrong robot, as wide as a large pizza, scoots forward on three wheels. (Image: University of Colorado Boulder) <\/p>\nThe future of Moon exploration may be rolling around a non-descript office on the CU Boulder campus. Here, a robot about as wide as a large pizza scoots forward on three wheels. It uses an arm with a claw at one end to pick up a plastic block from the floor, then set it back down.<\/p>\n
To be sure, this windowless office, complete with gray carpeting, is nothing like the Moon. And the robot, nicknamed \u201cArmstrong,\u201d wouldn\u2019t last a minute on its frigid surface.<\/p>\n
But the scene represents a new vision for space exploration \u2014 one in which fleets of robots working in tandem with people crawl across the lunar landscape, building scientific observatories or even human habitats.<\/p>\n
Xavier O\u2019Keefe operates the robot from a room down the hall. He wears virtual reality goggles that allow him to see through a camera mounted on top of Armstrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impressively immersive,\u201d said O\u2019Keefe, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering sciences from CU Boulder this spring. \u201cThe first couple of times I used the VR, the robot was sitting in the corner, and it was really weird to see myself using it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Armstrong robot\u2019s digital twin. (Image: Network for Exploration and Space Science) <\/p>\n
He\u2019s part of a team of current and former undergraduate students tackling a tricky question: How can humans on Earth get the training they need to operate robots on the hazardous terrain of the lunar surface? On the Moon, gravity is only about one-sixth as strong as it is on our planet. The landscape is pockmarked with craters, some cast in permanent darkness.<\/p>\n
In a new study, O\u2019Keefe and fellow CU Boulder alumni Katy McCutchan and Alexis Muniz report that \u201cdigital twins,\u201d or hyper-realistic virtual reality environments, could provide a useful proxy for the Moon \u2014 giving people a chance to get the hang of driving robots without risking damage to multi-million-dollar equipment.<\/p>\n
The study is funded by NASA and the Colorado company Lunar Outpost. It is part of a larger research effort led by Jack Burns, Astrophysics Professor Emeritus in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA).<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of room to make mistakes with Armstrong since it wasn\u2019t a million-dollar piece of hardware going to space,\u201d said McCutchan, who earned her master\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering sciences from CU Boulder in 2025. \u201cIt was a good sandbox to mess around in.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Burns, a co-author of the study, Armstrong and its VR digital twin represent a big leap forward, despite the robot\u2019s humble appearance. Burns is part of a team that has received a grant from NASA to design a futuristic scientific observatory on the moon called FarView \u2014 which would be made up of a web of 100,000 antennas stretching over roughly 77 square miles of the lunar surface. Daniel Szafir of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill was also a co-author of the new study.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike the Apollo program where human astronauts did all the heavy lifting on the moon, NASA\u2019s 21st century Artemis Program will combine astronauts and robotic rovers working in tandem,\u201d Burns said. \u201cOur efforts at CU Boulder are intended to make lunar robots more efficient and recoverable from errors, so precious astronaut time on the lunar surface will be better utilized.\u201d<\/p>\n
The space group\u2019s first hurdle: Creating a digital twin for Armstrong to roam around in. To do that, the researchers began by creating a digital replica of their office in a video game engine called Unity \u2014 right down to the beige walls and drab carpet.<\/p>\n
For more information, contact Daniel Strain at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Jack Burns at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..<\/p>\n
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Tech Briefs Magazine <\/p>\n
This article first appeared in the June, 2026 issue of Tech Briefs Magazine (Vol. 50 No. 6).<\/p>\n
Read more articles from the archives here<\/a>.<\/p>\n