ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION OF A ROCKER （分析和仿真的摇滚）.pdf

ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION OF A ROCKER-BOGIE EXPLORATION ROVER 1 1 2 Hervé Hacot , Steven Dubowsky , Philippe Bidaud 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 2Laboratoires de Robotique de Paris - Centre Universiatire de Technologie 10-12 avenue de l’Europe - 78140 Vélizy - FRANCE Abstract Rovers will continue to play an important role in planetary exploration. Plans include the use of the rocker-bogie rover configuration. Here, models of the mechanics of this configuration are presented. Methods for solving the inverse kinematics of the system and quasi-static force analysis are described. Also described is a simulation based on the models of the rover’s performance. Experimental results confirm the validity of the models. 1. Introduction NASA recently started an ambitious exploration program of Mars [1]. Pathfinder is the first rover explorer in this program [2],[3]. Future rovers will need to travel several kilometers over periods of months and manipulate rock and soil samples. They will also need to be somewhat autonomous. Rocker-bogie based rovers are likely candidates for these missions (see Figure 1). The physics of these rovers is quite complex. To design and control these, analytical models of how the rover interacts with its environment are essential [4]. Models are also needed for rover action planning [5]. Simple mobility analysis of rocker-bogie vehicles have been developed and used for design evaluation [6],[7]. In the available published works, the rocker-bogie configuration is modeled as a planar system. Improving the performances of a simpler four wheel rover has also been explored [