Future rover concepts

Abstract

There are five classes of locomotion adopted in mobile robots that are applicable to planetary exploration rovers:

• (i) wheels—rolling (e.g., automobile locomotion);

• (ii) tracks—rolling/screwing (e.g., armored vehicle locomotion, rotary drill);

• (iii) legs—walking (e.g., animal locomotion);

• (iv) body articulation—crawling/sliding (e.g., snake undulation);

• (v) non-contact locomotion—hopping/flying.