ATHLETE - An All-Terrain Adaptive Suspension Vehicle

ATHLETE is the All-Terrain, Hex-Limbed, Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, developed as part of the NASA "Technology Maturation Program" which sought to increase the technology readiness of advanced concepts in preparation for the return of humans to the moon in the next decade. ATHLETE has six wheels on limbs that allow it to roll rapidly at low power over moderate terrain, and to walk or climb over extreme terrain. The top speed of this vehicle is about 10 km/h, and the limb actuators are sized to allow vertical movement of the wheels at about 10% of that speed, so that active suspension should be possible on terrain with undulations having a slope up to about 10%. Brian Wilcox is the Principal Investigator of ATHLETE, and will describe the development of this vehicle, its performance in two recent field tests, and plans for the future. Workshop on Mobility and Control in Challenging Environments Olin College, Needham, MA, Oct. 5-6, 2006 2 The OmniTread OT-4 Serpentine Robot Design and Control Johann Borenstein University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI [email protected]