Research/ PLANETARY ROBOTICS
The European Moon Rover System: a modular multipurpose rover for future complex lunar missions
Cristina Luna, Manuel Esquer, Jorge Barrientos-Díez, Alba Guerra, Marina L. Seoane, Iñaki Colmenarejo, Steven Kay, Angus Cameron, Carmen Camañes, Íñigo Sard, Danel Juárez, Alessandro Orlandi, Federica Angeletti, Vassilios Papatoniou, Ares Papantoniou, Spiros Makris, Armin Wedler, Bernhard Rebele, Jennifer Reynolds, Markus Landgraf
Surface Mobility & TerramechanicsOpenAlex topic: Soil Mechanics and Vehicle Dynamics · Autonomy, Task Planning & OperationsOpenAlex keyword: onboard autonomy
arXivcs.RO · astro-ph.IMOpenAlexSoil Mechanics and Vehicle Dynamics · Planetary Science and Exploration · Spacecraft Design and Technology
This document presents the study conducted during the European Moon Rover System Pre-Phase A project, in which we have developed a lunar rover system, with a modular approach, capable of carrying out different missions with different objectives. This includes excavating and transporting over 200kg of regolith, building an astrophysical observatory on the far side of the Moon, placing scientific instrumentation at the lunar south pole, or studying the volcanic history of our satellite. To achieve this, a modular approach has been adopted for the design of the platform in terms of locomotion and mobility, which includes onboard autonomy, of course. A modular platform allows for accommodating different payloads and allocating them in the most advantageous positions for the mission they are going to undertake (for example, having direct access to the lunar surface for the payloads that require it), while also allowing for the relocation of payloads and reconfiguring the rover design itself to perform completely different tasks.
Comments: Conference Paper for ASTRA 2023