Terranaut - earth’s equivalent of a lunar rover

The exterior of Terranaut is dominated, however, by a glass dome over the rear portion of the roof and which marks the uppermost element of Terranaut’s science laboratory. As well as providing a window on the world for the occupants inside, the sphere doubles as an escape hatch should the ground beneath the vehicle give way for any reason.

Other features to be found on the roof are a circular housing for satellite positioning, transmitting and scanning equipment and a telescopic arm onto which a day/night view camera can be mounted. When fully extended this can transmit 360-degree ‘helicopter view’ images from around Terranaut to the vehicle itself and to expedition headquarters at all hours of the night and day.

Inside the vehicle, the spherical science laboratory dominates the entire cabin area behind the two front seats. A single revolving seat with an integrated computer keyboard is situated beneath the glass roof dome and gives the scientist complete 360-degree access to the various workstations found in Terranaut.

The laboratory also incorporates a hemispherical display in front of the revolving seat which acts as a computer screen and data display panel – created in collaboration with Elumens – and onto which can also be relayed images transmitted from the cameras attached to the vehicle. Images and data can be downloaded to both computer storage systems and to an on-board high definition printer.

Although designed as a mobile laboratory, NDE’s project team of six designers has ensured the vehicle provides a welcoming habitat for the three-man Terranaut team. While functional materials have been used extensively inside the cabin – the totally flat floor, for example, has an easy-to-clean rubberised covering – all surfaces with which the occupants are likely to come into contact feature soft-touch materials.

Touch pads used to open the doors electrically are covered with a tactile silicon finish while the seats, which all feature air vents in the base and backrests feature ‘breathing’ fabrics. Colours chosen mix practical laboratory greys with warm beige and brown shades to bring a human touch to what is essentially a scientific environment.

Reflecting the sorts of samples that might be brought into the laboratory for analysis, the design team have adopted the hexagon – the geometric shape of one of the seven crystal systems – as a styling feature. The light clusters, front and rear, are all hexagonal while the jewel-like lights themselves appear to be actual gemstones.

Raised hexagonal sections on the flooring provide extra grip inside the cabin, while even the two sides of the dashboard and the centre console between pilot and co-pilot adopt the six-sided theme.

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