The Robotics Institute

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute

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Abstract

The pair of lunar rovers discussed in this report will return video and state data to various ventures, including theme park and marketing concerns, science agencies, and educational institutions.

The greatest challenge accepted by the design team was to enable operations throughout the extremely cold and dark lunar night, an unprecedented goal in planetary exploration. This is achieved through the use of the emerging technology of Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Converters (AMTEC), provided with heat from a innovative beta-decay heat source, Krypton-85 gas. Although previous space missions have returned still images, our design will convey panoramic video from a ring of cameras around the rover. A six-wheel rocker bogie mechanism is implemented to propel the rover.

The rovers will also provide the ability to safeguard their operation to allow untrained members of the general public to drive the vehicle. Additionally, scientific exploration and educational outreach will be supported with a user operable, steerable and zoomable camera.

Notes

Grant ID: DACA76-89-C-0014, DAAE07-90-C-R059

Associated Lab(s) / Group(s): Mobile Robot Lab

Number of pages: 138

Text Reference

Peter Berkelman, Mei Chen, Jesse Easudes, John Hancock, Martin C. Martin, Andrew Mor, Eric Rollins, Alex Sharf, Jack Silberman, Tom Warren, and Deepak Bapna, "Design of a Day / Night Lunar Rover," tech. report CMU-RI-TR-95-24, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, June, 1995

BibTeX Reference

@techreport{Berkelman_1995_380,
   author = "Peter Berkelman and Mei Chen and Jesse Easudes and John Hancock and Martin C. Martin and Andrew Mor and Eric Rollins and Alex Sharf and Jack Silberman and Tom Warren and Deepak Bapna",
   title = "Design of a Day / Night Lunar Rover",
   booktitle = "",
   institution = "Robotics Institute",
   month = "June",
   year = "1995",
   number= "CMU-RI-TR-95-24",
   address= "Pittsburgh, PA",
}

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