Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Matthew Heverly is a pioneering roboticist whose work bridges the gap between planetary geology and extreme-terrain mobility. His research centers on the development of novel rover architectures for lunar and extraterrestrial exploration, with a particular focus on enabling access to scientifically critical but hazardous environments. Heverly’s most notable contribution is his leadership on the **Moon Diver** mission concept, a proposed Discovery-class mission to send a rappelling rover into a deep lunar mare pit. This ambitious project, which has garnered 32 citations, aims to explore secondary crust formation by accessing lava tubes—a feat impossible for traditional rovers. Heverly’s foundational work on the **All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE)** rover, cited 13 times, demonstrated a revolutionary wheel-on-limb design that allows a single platform to roll efficiently across benign terrain and walk over obstacles. This dual-mode mobility system, developed for NASA, has set a new standard for versatile planetary rovers. By combining geological insight with cutting-edge robotics, Heverly is shaping the future of in-situ exploration, enabling scientists to reach the Moon’s most inaccessible and revealing landscapes.