SCARAB - LUNAR ROVER CONCEPT VEHICLE

Carnegie Mellon University's Field Robotics Center
For NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program
Red Whittaker, David Wettergreen, Paul Bartlett and multiple other collaborators

A vehicle concept for driving in permanently shadowed craters on the moon and drilling into the subsurface to explore for water ice deposits.

The vehicle employs a novel adjustable suspension to let it lay down to drill, which has multiple mobility benefits including being able to lean into steep slopes, recover from high centering and other problematic conditions, and to perform and inch-worming motion.

Project phases: Study, Design, Model, Build, Field Test and Analyze

ANIMATIONS:
-- Model of differential suspension rocking.
-- Model of differential suspension raising one wheel as it would on an obstacle.
-- Model of adjustable suspension changing the ride height.
-- Model of adjustable suspension leaning up to 20 degrees.

VIDEO:
-- The Scarab rover actuations & driving over a twist course.
-- A Discovery Channel Daily Planet piece on Scarab