A lunar explorer self-contained PicoRover

In this paper some results of the study group of the Team FREDNET is presented, which designs a lunar rover for an open source mission to the Moon within the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP). Team FREDNET (TFN) is an open source non-profit program that combines the talents of scientists, engineers, and technologists to create a viable solution for the continued exploration of the lunar environment. A relatively simple model that fulfills all basic GLXP mission requirements of lunar rovers is presented. This design is based on a sphere that is able to roll in a regolith slope and steer over the surface. This is possible thanks to a very light weight self-enclosed device, that is the result of having selected Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components to conform the basic subsystems inside the box. This model has a diameter smaller than 0.15 meters and weights less than 500 grams. Moreover, it has a large payload area inside that is occupied by an Elphel model High Definition (HD) camera. The study of the Team FREDNET rover group involves a minimal number of subsystems. Each subsystem is afford by the technical expertise of the open source community. These subsystems are communications, thermal control, radiation protection, power supply, image processing, attitude determination, positioning and disposal. The communication and thermal issues as well as the duration of the mission are optimized in order to minimize the exposure to solar radiation and to the extreme effects of the Moon’s thermal environment.