面向熔岩管探测的星球子车及其参数化设计方法研究

Planetary lava tubes which are shortcuts into the extraterrestrial ground are of particular interest to scientific and mineral exploration. This research presents a new tethered planetary lava tube exploration rover and researches its parametric design method. With consideration of steering and tether-assisted release and retrieve on the cliff of the lava tube, the configuration of the planetary rover is designed. Based on terramechanics, the parametric optimization design of the tethered three-wheeled mobile mechanism is completed with consideration of mobility on deformable terrains around the entrance of the lava tube and in the accumulation area at the bottom of the lava tube, as well as the load distribution, placidity and anti-tipping on the non-deformable terrain the of lava tube. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the planetary rover designed by using the proposed method satisfies the technical requirements; compared with those without optimization, the rover has stronger mobility, which supports the parametric design of multi-wheel (4-wheel, 6-wheel, etc.) planetary rovers.