Microgravity experiment of hopping rover

Under the micro-gravity environment such as on the surface of small planetary bodies (asteroids or comets), traditional wheeled rovers are not expected to move effectively due to the low friction and inevitable detachment from the surface. Therefore, the authors propose a hopping rover suitable for exploration on the surface of small bodies. This paper describes the micro-gravity experiments of a proposed hopping rover which is driven by an internal DC motor torque. The proposed rover could hop under a micro-gravity environment. Experimental results are compared with the computational simulations