A collaborative research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Unmanned Exploration Laboratory (UEL) has developed an innovative wheel that can effectively navigate the Moon's most challenging terrains, including steep lunar pits and lava tubes. The study introduces a unique "origami-inspired" deployable airless wheel that can greatly increase its diameter to overcome obstacles that would hinder conventional rovers. The study was published in Science Robotics.
Driving performance field tests were conducted in various environments, such as artificial lunar soil, extreme temperatures, mud, and rocky terrain. Image Credit: KAIST
The Challenge: Small Rovers vs. Big Obstacles
Lunar lava tubes and pits represent excellent candidates for future human habitats due to their natural protection against cosmic radiation and extreme temperature variations; however, accessing these locations poses significant risks. Utilizing a swarm of small, autonomous rovers can serve as an effective approach to reduce the dangers associated with relying on a single large rover. This method guarantees mission continuity through redundancy; even if some units encounter failures, the remaining rovers are capable of completing the exploration.
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Small rovers are confronted with a fundamental physical limitation: their small wheel size greatly limits their capacity to navigate steep and rugged terrains, such as the entrances to lunar pits. Although variable-diameter wheels could theoretically address this issue by providing enhanced traversability as needed, developing such a system for the Moon has proven to be a considerable challenge.
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