Wheel Design Methodology for a Lunar Exploration Rover in Order to Improve Trafficability Considering Operation Environment

For achieving a successful mission in lunar exploration, not only traversability of exploration rover should be predicted but also operation environment should be considered under the limited power condition. Therefore, an optimal design of rover wheel for minimizing power consumption and maximizing tractive performance is required by conducting conceptual design stage. This paper describes settlement of requirements at system level and modeling of operation environment such as power acquisition and terrain characteristics in the lunar simulant. Using the wheel-terrain interaction model, a wheel design methodology was proposed to obtain an optimal wheel dimension, which meet the limited power condition along with maximal trafficability according to the each landing site. In addition, the results from the above approach have been validated with the experimental results using a single wheel test bed on the lunar simulant.