Paper presented at the 16th European-African Regional Conference of the ISTVS
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Title: Obstacle performance and wheel failure test analysis of Zhurong rover
Authors: Hongtao Cao, Meng Zou, and Jianqiao Li
Abstract: A large number of rocks are distributed on the surface of Mars, and the wheels have potential risks such as puncture and fracture, which pose a threat to the trafficability of the Mars rover. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out the experimental analysis of the obstacle performance and failure mechanism of the Zhurong Rover wheel. A ground test model of the Zhurong Rover was used as the ground simulation vehicle, and the stone height and driving speed are taken as variables. The wheel drive mechanism power, current and wheel obstacle resistance are taken as the test indexes, and the obstacle performance test of the Mars rover is carried out. The test results show that the variation trend of average power and current is obvious, and there will be obvious slope peak when crossing the obstacle, which can judge when the Mars rover crosses the obstacle and the state of crossing the obstacle. When the wheel crosses the obstacle, the vehicle power, current and wheel resistance are positively correlated with the obstacle height and driving speed. In order to verify the strength and damage resistance of the wheel, the extreme driving conditions were set to test the failure modes such as wheel damage, puncture and fracture. The Zhurong Rover wheel was shown to have excellent damage resistance. The analysis results verify the obstacle surmounting performance of the Mars rover and the strength and damage resiliency of the wheels.
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