China deploys robot dogs in simulated moon conditions ahead of lunar mission (www.scmp.com)

Peking University researchers have built and begun field-testing two robotic dog prototypes in a terrestrial lava tube near Jingbo Lake (Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang) that closely resembles the moon’s underground environment. The site’s narrow, human-impassable sections are being used to train the robots as “scouts” to perform surveying and reconnaissance tasks that would be difficult or dangerous for astronauts. The work is done in collaboration with the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (Zhiyuan Institute) and is explicitly framed as preparation for future lunar missions targeting subsurface lava tubes—considered prime locations for long-term human bases. For the AI/ML community the project signals a practical push to translate embodied-intelligence research into deployable space robotics: locomotion robustness, autonomous perception and mapping in GPS‑denied, confined environments, and resilient decision-making under limited communications. Testing in realistic, unstructured cave analogs helps close the sim‑to‑real gap, uncovering sensor, control and learning challenges (e.g., traversal of tight passages, onboard mapping, real‑time autonomy) that are critical for deep‑space exploration. Beyond lunar missions, advances from this program could inform terrestrial applications such as subterranean search-and-rescue, industrial inspection, and any domain that requires agile, trustworthy mobile agents in hard-to-reach spaces.