Modelling of planetary rovers by means of a dynamical system approach with respect to mobility requirements

Abstract

The term of terramechanics is somewhat deceptive when used in conjunction with planetary exploration rovers but the field of application is comparable to off-road vehicles on earth. In contrast to classical off-road vehicle design the challenge of vehicle design for extraterrestrical exploration requires immense research effort due to the demand for mobility and the absence of engagement possibilities with the vehicle. Therefore autonomous vehicles with optimised mobility performance are needed for future missions and hence tools for design, layout and multiobjective optimisations are needed to fullfil mission requirements without having the possibility to conduct hardware tests in the later working environment. The definition of vehicle performance in rough and soft soil terrain can be distinguished by the terms of trafficability, manoeuvrability and terrainability. Trafficability, which is a robot's ability to traverse soft soils or hard ground without loss of traction, is the main subject of investigation for the presented multibody system (MBS) simulation approach.