The desert-like surface of the Red Planet could one day be host to a bunch of rolling robots cunningly disguised as tumbleweed… Thomas Estier of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne has designed temperature-activated robotic tumbleweeds which could one day be blown around the surface of Mars in an effort to try and map the complex wind patterns of the planet. They could also be used to find good landing spots for future missions, and would help to map out the atmosphere of Mars.