Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : May 29, 2024 - June 01, 2024
The lunar surface is covered with fine sand particles called regolith, which is soft ground. In this environment, the current lunar exploration rover is required to traverse slopes with an inclination of approximately 20 degrees. As a moving mechanism for the rover under such conditions, a crawler-type moving mechanism that is less likely to get stuck on soft ground can be considered. However, the disadvantage of crawlers is that their movement function is completely lost when the crawler belt is cut or detached. Therefore, in this study, we improve the structure of the crawler's drive wheels and consider the development of a mechanism that can move using only the drive wheels without significant deterioration in movement performance even when the crawler belt is cut or detached.
