An experimental study on contra-rotor screw drilling mechanism (effective screw mechanism for lunar subsurface exploration robot)

The acquisition of scientific information with respect to the interior of the Moon is a considerably significant goal for the next lunar exploration missions. The purpose of this research is to develop a robotic subsurface explorer that can burrow into the lunar soils by itself in order to sample and analyze the subsoil or to bury scientific instruments. Firstly, this paper qualitatively describes the conceptual definitions of subsurface locomotive robots. In addition, as one of the essential components for the development of such a robotic explorer, an effective screw drilling mechanism, which can cancel the reaction forces to the main body and loosen fore-soils, is proposed. With respect to the proposed mechanism, the remarks of the validation analysis with some mechanical discussions and fundamental experiments are presented.