Concept of a wheel for micro lunar rover

Planetary exploration has been an interesting topic for researchers or scientists around the world. In terms of terra-mechanics, not only the development of rover vehicle itself but also the fundamental design of running devices for a target rover is important for successful exploration after landing on a planet. Superior mobility over unknown terrain conditions will be obtained by a rational design of wheels or tracks. However, as for a development of lunar rovers, prior successful and accessible experiences were only two cases-LRV (US) and Lunokhod (USSR). For a design of micro lunar rovers, these vehicles were too heavy. Thus, computational tool by the discrete element method (DEM) was applied to estimate the wheel performance for an autonomous lunar rover whose design mass would be about 60 kg. From the prior experiences on DEM analysis with parameter calibration by experiments, a shape of wheel was conceptually proposed for assumed dimension of a lunar micro rover. The traction performance and slope maneuverability of the concept wheel were estimated under 1/6 G condition.