Mechanism Design and Action Strategy for Small Hopping Rover

Abstract

This paper describes the design of the hopping rover for the moon or Mars surface exploration. Hopping rover is one of solution for locomotion on loose and rocky terrain on the moon and planetary surface. The hopping rover can jump over an obstacles. Since the height of hopping is equal to the height which the rover can get over, the traversability of rover becomes higher than that of the small wheeled rover. In this paper, we describe the whole design of the hopping rover, design of hopping mechanism, simulator with the estimation of terrain force, action strategy, and the scientific missions.