Problems with Earth-based trials could account for NASA's rovers repeatedly freezing up on Mars.
In a groundbreaking study, engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have uncovered a significant oversight in NASA's testing procedures for Martian rovers. The discovery, published in the Journal of Field Robotics, could potentially improve the performance and success rate of future NASA rover missions to the Moon and other planets.
The study, led by Professor Dan Negrut, focuses on the effect of gravity on the sandy Martian and lunar surfaces. Traditional Earth tests have failed to account for how Earth's stronger gravity compresses sand, making it firmer and more supportive. On the Moon, with weaker gravity, the granular soil shifts more easily under rover wheels, decreasing mobility.
The researchers used advanced physics-based simulations with the Project Chrono engine to model the VIPER rover on lunar soil. Their findings revealed discrepancies between Earth-based tests of the rover prototype and the physics-based simulations on the Moon. The simulations showed that the rovers, which appeared to perform well in Earth-based simulations, faced mobility challenges on the Moon or Mars, as earlier models overestimated traction by not replicating soil softness accurately.
This oversight could have contributed to incidents like the Spirit rover getting stuck on Mars, Opportunity spending weeks stuck in sand in 2005, and Curiosity getting bogged down in soft terrain in 2014.
The new findings suggest that rovers on extraterrestrial terrains, like the Moon or Mars, are more likely to struggle with getting their wheels stuck in less-cooperative sands. Earth's sand is much more rigid due to stronger gravity, while Martian and lunar sand is fluffier.
Professor Negrut stated that considering the effect of gravity on the sand is crucial to understanding how rovers will perform on the Moon. By accounting for how sand behaves under the lighter gravitational pull of other worlds, NASA can better prepare its robots for the harsh terrain ahead.
The engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison propose a way to better prepare NASA's robots for extraterrestrial environments. They suggest that accounting for the difference in gravity's effect on the sand in testing procedures could potentially improve the performance and success rate of future NASA rover missions to Mars and other planets.
The VIPER rover mission, though canceled, provided valuable insights for understanding the challenges faced by rovers on extraterrestrial surfaces. The study's team discovered the missing piece of the puzzle while simulating NASA's VIPER, a rover meant to launch to the Moon this year before its mission got canceled. The study's findings could potentially improve the performance and success rate of future NASA rover missions to the Moon and other planets.
- NASA can benefit significantly from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's study, which highlights the impact of gravity on lunar and Martian surfaces, as it could help the agency in preparing its robots for the differing terrains of these celestial bodies.
- The groundbreaking research led by Professor Dan Negrut, which focuses on the behavior of sand in various gravitational environments, could potentially improve the performance of NASA's future rover missions to the Moon and other planets, by addressing the mobility challenges rovers face on these less-cooperative sands.
- Incorporating advanced AI-powered simulations, such as the Project Chrono engine, into NASA's testing procedures could help the agency accurately replicate the behavior of extraterrestrial soils, improving the success rate of future rover missions, as demonstrated by the team's analysis of the VIPER rover prototype.
