Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Technology => Topic started by: thedoc on 05/03/2014 01:30:02

Title: How do you design a Mars rover?
Post by: thedoc on 05/03/2014 01:30:02

Paul Meacham explains the challenges he faces while working on building the ExoMars Rover...
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1000625/)
or [chapter podcast=1000635 track=14.03.04/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.03.04_1002038.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/14.03.04/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.03.04_1002038.mp3)

Title: Re: How do you design a Mars rover?
Post by: evan_au on 07/03/2014 10:49:06

The guest mentioned that they made the Earth-bound "practice" models the same weight as they would be on Mars.

I would think that if you were going to "train" the AI driver and engine control software on Earth, you would also need to scale the model so you get:

• The same resonant frequency as on Mars, otherwise you could end up with oscillations
• The same distribution of mass around the center of gravity, or you could end up with rocking or rolling motions as it is driving.
• Similar acceleration from the motors, despite the reduced mass.

...but I'm sure they thought of all this!