SpaceCat: The Stepping Triple Wheels Robot

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Motivation

  • Mobile robots are of highest interest for unmanned planetary exploration
  • The European Space Agency (ESA) is seeking for innovative micro-rovers for future missions to mars, moon and other planets
  • Human guided mobile robots have a high potential also for various applications on earth

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System Requirements

  • Stowed dimensions (cm): 30 x 20 x 20
  • Mass of the System: 2 Kg (robot) + 2 Kg (payload)
  • Electrical power provided by lander: 2 Watt average
  • Maximum obstacle height to overcome: 10 cm
  • Possibility to precisely position the on board sensors
  • Maximum speed: 5 m/h

Proposed solution: SpaceCat, The “Stepping Triple Wheels” Robot

  • Rolling capabilities with the three wheels arrabged in a triangle on each side
  • Walking capabilities with the two wheel frames
  • The center of gravity of the rover can be adjusted with some sort of robot arm >>> facility to climb on obstacles and to recover after flipping over
  • All the scientific instruments are arranged within the payload frame which can be rotated to allow precise positionning of the instruments
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