Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
Project Type
individual
Campus
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Nikita Amberkar, Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Nikita Amberkar
Lead Presenter's College
DB College of Engineering
Faculty Mentor Name
Mandar Kulkarni
Abstract
Rovers have been used extensively on exploration and sample collection missions to the Moon and Mars. Challenging prospective missions require rovers that have reliable wheels to navigate the harsh conditions of the planetary regolith. However, due to the regolith being soft the wheels on the rover start to lose traction and the wheels sink while driving. The goal of this work is to optimize the grouser geometry to improve wheel traction and sinkage simultaneously facilitating better rover maneuvering. This research will be conducted by changing different parameters of the grouser's height, number of grousers, and shape of the grousers. Novel geometries will be analyzed using LIGGGHTS and Paraview software. Recommendations will be made towards optimizing the wheel performance on planetary surface missions. MATLAB will be the first to use to optimize the grouser geometry and then input into LIGGGHTS and processed in Paraview. For validating the work, high-fidelity simulations will be performed along with sensitivity study.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
Yes, Spark Grant
Optimization of Rover Wheel Geometries for Planetary Missions
Rovers have been used extensively on exploration and sample collection missions to the Moon and Mars. Challenging prospective missions require rovers that have reliable wheels to navigate the harsh conditions of the planetary regolith. However, due to the regolith being soft the wheels on the rover start to lose traction and the wheels sink while driving. The goal of this work is to optimize the grouser geometry to improve wheel traction and sinkage simultaneously facilitating better rover maneuvering. This research will be conducted by changing different parameters of the grouser's height, number of grousers, and shape of the grousers. Novel geometries will be analyzed using LIGGGHTS and Paraview software. Recommendations will be made towards optimizing the wheel performance on planetary surface missions. MATLAB will be the first to use to optimize the grouser geometry and then input into LIGGGHTS and processed in Paraview. For validating the work, high-fidelity simulations will be performed along with sensitivity study.