New mobility system for small planetary body exploration

Under the micro gravity environment, such as on the surface of small planetary bodies (asteroids or comets), traditional wheeled rovers are not expected to move effectively due to the low friction and the inevitable detachment from the surface. This paper discusses the friction-based mobility around the surface of small bodies and proposes a new mobility mechanism that drives the rover by hopping. The hop angle and the velocity are analyzed by numerical simulations, which show the effectiveness of the new mobility system.