Chariot and Athlete: NASA Moon Trucks
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 5 of November , 2007 at 4:11 am
Building things inevitably involves hauling a bunch of stuff from point A to point B, and it’s no different on the moon. With this in mind, NASA and JPL have been working on ways to transport equipment around the lunar surface, and here are two designs:
This Chariot lunar truck prototype was designed and built in only 11 months, an astounding pace for a NASA project. Each wheel has an independent suspension, and is driven by two 3hp electric motors. In low gear, Chariot can bulldoze or dig trenches with a pushing force of 4000 lbs, and in high gear it has a top speed of 15 mph. These specs refer to the Earth (1 gravity) prototype… On the moon, Chariot will be able to carry between 3 and 6 times as much, climb a 25 degree slope, and range out to 100km.
Athlete is much like Chariot, in that it has six wheels around a central platform. However, Athlete’s wheels are on legs. The wheels can be locked, and Athlete can actually walk by moving its legs like a spider. Also, the legs feature modular tool attachments powered by the wheel drive motors. The center platform has a pair of stereo cameras on each face, making Athlete easy to teleoperate. From the video, it sounds like Athlete is meant to be incorporated into a landing system, which will provide payloads with instant, intelligent lunar mobility. Planned improvements include things like the ability to traverse “vertical rock faces or sandy slopes at the angle of repose by using a launchable/releasable grappling hook.” Badass!
[ Chariot ] VIA [ Engadget ]
[ Athlete ] VIA [ Robots-Dreams ]
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