Abstract
Development of new type of mobility is required for space robotics projects such as The MUSES-C aiming at small asteroid exploration. Since the environment of asteroids is of vacuum and microgravity, floatation is a possible choice for enhancing a new mobility of the rover. In this paper, we propose the use of electro-magnetic levitation in order to integrate a mobility into the microgravity rover. The rover has a spherical shape and a smaller spherical shell inside. Four electro-magnets are symmetrically located between the outer sphere surface and the inner sphere shell with one end of each directed to the center of the shell. With electro-magnetic force of the magnets, a sphere iron ball inside the shell is controlled and levitated. When the rover lifts the ball inside with the electro-magnetic force, the rover is in return pressed down the ground by the reaction force, due to which the rover system not only gains upward momentum for floatation, but also obtains friction that enables its rolling on the ground. The prototype microgravity rover was developed and provided experimental results that indicates effectiveness of the proposed mobility.
