Quasi-Static Mobility Analysis Tool for the Design of Lunar/Martian Rovers and Construction Vehicles

An important characteristic of vehicles for roving or construction work on the Moon or Mars will be their obstacle-climbing and -crossing capability. These obstacles will include boulders, crater rims, lava fields, and crevasses with dimensions of interest on the order of 1 meter. Therefore, terrain traversing, or mobility performance, is a crucial parameter in the design of such extraterrestrial off-road vehicles. This paper document work performed under the Mars Rover Sample Return study to develop computer-based rover-mobility analysis tools. The computer software implemented is a two-dimensional (planar) model of a generic 6-wheel by 6-wheel drive vehicle. This software code can be used iteratively to analyze and optimize vehicle conceptual designs against a variety of independent articulation parameters.