Novel mobility system with active suspension for planetary surface exploration

Lunar or planetary exploration missions including landers and rovers have been earnestly under study in Japan. One of the main missions for lunar robotics exploration is to demonstrate the technologies for lunar or planetary surface exploration, which will cover landing technology and surface exploration rover technology. Lunar geologic survey will be also performed for utilization and scientific investigation of the moon. Surface explorers, rovers are required to traverse rough terrain, such as craters and cliffs with high scientific value. A new mobility system is required for future exploration rovers to traverse more challenging terrains, This paper proposes a new mobility system with active suspension, which has high efficiency and high traversability. This paper shows the effectiveness of the proposed mobility system in its ability to climb slopes and its stability from tip over when traversing various rough terrains using active suspension.