Development of Hopping Rover for Planetary Exploration and Terrain Estimation

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K14926
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 20010:Mechanics and mechatronics-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (2021); Japan Aerospace EXploration Agency (2020); Chuo University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: Maeda Takao 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (00761149)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: Hopping robot / Terramechanics / Planetary exploration

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Measurement of terrain specification of a celestial body by a small robot is difficult because the robot's weight is insufficient. A hopping robot can solve this problem by using a reaction force of jump. In this research, we developed a small robot mechanism that can measure the terrain specification by using a reaction force of jump. In an experiment on jumping on an artificial terrain made of loose sand, the dataset of the relationship between a condition of terrain and a reaction of force during jumping is obtained. By comparing the dataset and the experiment result on unknown terrain, it became possible to estimate the feature of terrain by using a small hopping rover.

Free Research Field

Robotics, Space Engineering, Terramechanics

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小型の天体探査ロボット(ローバ) は，大型天体着陸探査ミッション時に，余剰ペイロードを活用した即応的な探査システムとして期待されている．小型ローバに求められるミッションには，大型主 ミッションシステムの外部からの観測，主ミッションと別行動によるサイエンスの強化などがある．その中でも，主ミッション側のローバの移動経路を事前に調査することや，将来の月面基地・火星基 地建設のため，広い範囲で天体表面正常を調査することは，大型主ミッションの成功を支える重要な役割となる．本研究ではこれを小型ローバで実施できることを示し，将来の探査において様々な小型ローバが同時に多数活躍できる可能性を示した．