Review and Analysis of Chassis for Prospective Russian Lunar Rovers

The article presents a detailed analysis of the chassis designs of planetary rovers, starting with the Lunokhod-1. Over the past 50 years the Russian space program has achieved great success in the development of electronics and automation, but even this significant progress cannot provide the necessary cross-country capability of planetary rovers. In this regard, the question of a right choice for the chassis for these vehicles is relevant. In the article, the advantages and disadvantages of individual units of rigid wheels of lunar rovers are considered. The rigidity of the wheel is provided by elastic elements, while the rim material ensures fracture resistance. For a limited-range lunar rover, it is not necessary to take the wheel’s fracture resistance into account, but for a lunar rover with a range of 400 km this factor will be the defining value. The authors consider both open and closed wheel designs. When moving on unprepared soil, the ratio of the wheel width to diameter is of great significant for open wheels. It is noted that the presence of lugs, their shape, amount and height considerably influences traction properties of the wheel on soil. The prospects of creating chassis for modern planetary research vehicles are described.

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