A Multitasking Surface Exploration Rover System

Exploration of the unknown and survival have always been generic instincts of the human nature. According to our knowledge about the universe and the available technology, exploration progressed from a quest for land across the horizon, to a search for planetary bodies in our galaxial neighbourhood, which given the appropriate infrastructure, could sustain artificial ecosystems. The best candidates for exploration within our Solar System are the Moon and Mars. The Earth’s moon is the nearest celestial body and therefore most easily accessible. It has been excessively studied throughout the centuries but it wasn’t before the 70’s that the Luna [Harvey, 2005] and Apollo programs successfully delivered both tele-operated, semiautonomous and remotely-operated [Muirhead, 2004] [Young, 2006] rover vehicles onto its surface. Many scenarios for lunar stations have been and continue to be considered [Smith, 2005]. These involve the deployment of similar in nature, but more advanced surface mobility systems for infrastructure development. Mars has also been visited using wheeled robotic explorers. The Sojourner deployed in 1997 [Matijevic, 1997] and more recently the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) [Erickson, 2006], all returned valuable information about the Martian environment. Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) [Naderi, 2006] is a highly instrumented rover that will be deployed on the Red Planet sometime in October 2010 and used to perform more detailed remote-field geology. NASA’s scenarios for a planetary outpost [Drake, 1998] include the deployment of 3 un-pressurized rover vehicles. ESA’s Exomars mission, planned for 2012, will deliver the Pasteur rover whose equipment includes an on-board drill system [Jorge, 2006]. The Multi-Tasking Rover (MTR) presented here and depicted in Fig. 1, is an experimental robotic platform, which incorporates advanced mobility features. In order to account for local terrain irregularities, the rover employs one passive and two active suspension systems. It can shift its centre of mass accordingly, to obtain stability enhancing traversability when so required. The MTR incorporates a novel suspension system to promote significant advantages over traditional rover designs. Its real strength however, lies in providing a multitasking robotic platform rather than a dedicated system that can only be engaged in specific, pre-defined scenarios. To do so the rover operates in conjunction with Tool and Science Packs (TP/SP). O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w .ite ch on lin e. co m