Reader Response Draft 1

In the article “Moving on Mars” (2019), the European Space Agency (ESA) documented the locomotion system of Rosalind Franklin which was created for the ExoMars mission in 2023. The system combines several different components to traverse the various terrains of Mars. The article states that the wheels of other rovers tend to get stuck, while carrying out its mission on Mars, thus ESA implemented Wheel-walking on the Rosalind Franklin. Wheel-walking mimics leg motion and solves the recurring issue of stuck wheels. The system can drive individual wheels and independently rotate the axes to change the rover’s height and angle according to the surrounding terrain. In the slides “First Experimental investigations on Wheel-Walking for improving Triple-Bogie rover locomotion performances'' (2015), the ESA stated that Rosalind Franklin’s locomotion system is based on a triple-bogie concept made up of two lateral bogies and a transverse bogie. It is equipped with adaptable metal wheels that allows for more fluid control and motion that is further aided by inclinometer and gyroscopes ("Moving on Mars", 2019). With these features, Rosalind Franklin will move off Kazachok, climb dunes and rocks it may face on Mars without an issue.

The first obstacle Rosalind Franklin has to overcome is moving of its landing platform, Kazachok (Moving on Mars, 2019). As the whole operation can’t be controlled remotely due to the time it takes a signal to return from Mars is 4 to 24 minutes (Fit for Mars, 2019), the rover must be able to utilize its inclinometer and gyroscope to overcome the steep incline and move off the platform (ExoMars locomotion tests, 2019). In the article “ExoMars locomotion tests” (2019), the rover went through multiple tests moving off the landing platform to simulate the possible scenarios. The tests angled Kazachok from 5 to 35 degrees as the test rover makes its way off autonomously, to make the experiment more realistic, the rover’s weight has been manipulated as the gravity in Mars is only a third of Earth’s gravity.

The second obstacle it may face are dunes and rocks in the path of its movement. Stated in “ExoMars locomotion tests” (2019), Rosalind Franklin is equipped with two cameras to allow 3D mapping and pick up any obstacle ahead, the system will then calculate the safest route to proceed with (Moving on Mars, 2019). When faced with a dune, Rosalind Franklin unique wheel walking comes into play. The wheels are able to increase in height, swing forward and rotate the angles of the wheels to match the surface and achieve walking similar to human. This motion gives good friction on slope and soft terrains, and is especial effective as there is minimal need to drive the wheels like a normal car which leads to the problem of stuck wheels in soft soil/ mud. When face with rocks, Rosalind Franklin is built on a triple-bogie locomotion system which allow it to drive pass large rocks. In “European Space Agency [European Space Agency, ESA], 2019”, the rover had to overcome different shaped rock from circular, 90 degrees angled and uneven pointed rocks in different orientations up to a height of 250 millimeters. In addition to the triple-bogie, the flexible metallic wheels equipped with springs helps to grab on to the surface of the rocks and gain traction to climb up.

Although all these features help to reduce the chances of failure in the movement of the Rosalind Franklin. Stated in the article “ExoMars locomotion test” (2019), after performing the 5 to 35 degrees tilt moving off Kazachok, the “steep slope was a challenge for the rover. The wheels found it difficult at times to gain traction, a valuable lesson of what can be expected on Mars” (para 6). In another experiment, it showed the flexible wheels gaining traction at 40 degrees angle in a static stability test (Michaud, 2008). This only shows that if Kazachok was to land in an unfavorable location which angled it above 40 degrees, the failure of Rosalind Franklin locomotion system is extremely high.

 

References

European Space Agency [European Space Agency, ESA]. (2019, August 17). ExoMars – Moving on Mars [Video].   YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNItE7zjhq8&t=122s

European Space Agency. (2015). First Experimental investigations on Wheel-Walking for improving Triple-Bogie rover locomotion performances. ESA.

https://robotics.estec.esa.int/ASTRA/Astra2015/Presentations/Session%202A/95665_Azkarate.pdf

European Space Agency. (2019). Moving on Mars. ESA. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/Moving_on_Mars

Michaud.S (2008).  LESSON LEARNED FROM EXOMARS LOCOMOTION SYSTEM TEST
CAMPAIGN. ESA. https://robotics.estec.esa.int/ASTRA/Astra2008/S03/03_02_Michaud.pdf

European Space Agency. (2019). ExoMars locomotion tests. ESA. https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/03/ExoMars_locomotion_tests

 

 

 

 

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