Scholarly record
ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF INVESTIGATING THE SURFACE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODIES
Abstract
The first rover reached the surface of the Moon in 1970. Since then similar machines have landed not only on the Moon but also on other celestial bodies, while research instruments have been progressively miniaturised, as illustrated by the increasing use of CubeSats. This paper presents the prototype of the #COSMOBOSS micro-rover: a remotely operated vehicle with an envelope not exceeding 20 x 20 x 30 cm, mounted on continuous tracks and equipped with magnetic sensors. The project develops an integrated hardwareand-research platform in which the rover collects data about the surrounding terrain in real time, and a computer program builds a map of that terrain with ferromagnetic occurrences overlaid in real time. Fitting the rover with tracks rather than wheels is decisive for future work in which drilling devices will be mounted to collect deep ground samples. Under reduced gravity the additional weight provided by tracks fundamentally affects drilling performance and the achievable depth in lunar regolith, because the weight-on-bit available to a planetary drill is limited by the low gravitational acceleration. The mobility of the rover was investigated on lunar regolith analogues; seven preliminary runs on the AGK-2010 analogue gave a low mean motion-resistance (speed-loss) index of about 0.06, which characterises trafficability and is not to be read as a Coulomb friction or traction coefficient. This work was carried out within the COSMODRILL Scientific Research Club at AGH University of Krakow and funded by the TURBOgrant programme of the ORLEN Ignacy Lukasiewicz Foundation.
Publication details
ReferencesPending
Structured references will appear here after the reference import pass. The count is preserved now so the scholarly record is not incomplete.