ROVER MOBILITY PERFORMANCE EVALUATION TOOL ( RMPET ) : A SYSTEMATIC TOOL FOR ROVER CHASSIS EVALUATION VIA APPLICATION OF BEKKER THEORY

With the current focus set on detailed investigation of the scientific hot spots on the surface of Mars, it has been noticed that the current range of autonomous robotic explorers are facing a grave problem in the form of highly hostile terrain. It has been the inefficiency of the mobility system that led the past Mars mission rovers Sojourner (Mars Pathfinder 1997) and MERs (2003-4) to traverse distance much less than their anticipated daily travel. This calls for a systematic investigation into the mobility/suspension systems for the Mars robotic rovers. In the view of investigating this problem, we have developed a software tool for evaluating the performance of a variety of rover chassis/mobility systems currently under investigation all over the world. The primary focus is on developing a tool called RCET (Rover Chassis Evaluation Tool), for ESA. The tool employs Bekker Theory into a solver engine to compute various mobility performance parameters, which in turn are governed by the choice of the vehicle geometry, nature of the mobility system and the type of terrain for navigation. Currently, there exists a choice of mobility systems available for the investigation within the scope of the tool namely, wheeled system, tracked system and legged system. Major emphasis is on incorporating the 3D design and simulation softwares in the shell of the solver engine, since different softwares are required for simulating wheeled, tracked and legged locomotion systems. This will allow an accurate performance analyses of the impact of different soils and surfaces, either terrestrial or extra-terrestrial on the performance of wheeled, tracked or legged robot.