High-Speed Dynamic Response for Lunar Rovers

Planetary exploration vehicles (rovers) enable scientific instruments and astronauts to study larger areas than with a lander alone. The lunar roving vehicles (LRV), used on the last three Apollo missions, were the only high-speed rovers used during a mission. High-speed is classified as the speed at which vehicle dynamics will have a significant effect on tractive and safety performance. The dynamic response of a vehicle after a high-speed impact results in loss of ground contact and the ability to perform evasive maneuvers. This loss of ground contact is referred to as the bounce range where more distance is detrimental to vehicle performance. Continued human exploration to the Moon and Mars will require the use of high-speed rovers that have been carefully designed to operate in a reduced gravity environment. This paper introduces a technique for a trade study for various vehicle configurations and their effect on dynamic obstacle navigation. The LRV is the only vehicle to have documented high-speed obstacle navigation and is used as a case study for reduced gravity performance analysis. The analysis predicts the time and distance that wheels are in contact with a tractive surface after encountering an obstacle at high-speed. The results of this analysis present a baseline approach for designing lunar vehicles to navigate obstacles at high speed.