Axel rover paddle wheel design, efficiency, and sinkage on deformable terrain

—This paper presents the Axel robotic rover which has been designed to provide robust and flexible access to extreme extra-planetary terrains. Axel is a lightweight 2wheeled vehicle that can access steep slopes and negotiate relatively large obstacles due to its actively managed tether and novel wheel design. This paper reviews the Axel system and focuses on its novel paddle wheel characteristics. We show that the paddle design has superior rock climbing ability. We also adapt basic terramechanics principles to estimate the sinkage of paddle wheels on loose sand. Experimental comparisons between the transport efficiency of mountain bike wheels and paddle wheels are summarized. Finally, we present an unfolding wheel prototype which allows Axel to be compacted for efficient transport. I. MOTIVATION ESPITE the great successes of the Mars Exploration Rovers [1], some of the richest potential science targets for future exploration missions lie in terrains that are inaccessible to state-of...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Pablo Abad-Manterola, Joel W. Burdick, Issa A. D. Nesnas, Sandeep Chinchali, Christine Fuller, Xuecheng Zhou
• Keywords: Axel Robotic Rover, ICRA 2010, Paddle, Robotics, Terrains