Using “C-Shaped Wheels,” This Rover can Climb Over More Challenging Lunar Terrain

Student teams areunderappreciated in the scientific community Whether it's racing solar-powered cars or digging fish ponds in Africa, joining a team that works toward a goal is an excellent way to improve technical and project skills. Student teams are developing exciting projects all over the world and the space industry is catching on. Students at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created a six-legged robot with a unique look and feel.

The idea of a six-legged robot was originally developed for students in the Netherlands. The group, which has totaled over 120 students in the past five years, decided to develop the lunar zebro in order to be the first European rover on the moon.

The rhex project at the University of Pennsylvania was the inspiration for the locomotion system used by the rover. The rover, which is only the size of an A4 sheet of paper, can traverse much larger obstacles than wheeled rovers in its size class.

Two custom-made cameras and a radiation sensor can be found on the rover's platform, even though it's small. Its original goal was to stay operational on the Moon for 12 a lunar day and communicate back to the ground stations for 14 Earth days.

It's difficult to make sure the little rover can meet its challenge. In the past, the team has tested in situ in some of the most hostile environments on Earth, including lava tubes in Iceland and the slopes of the Alps. Extreme temperature swings and constant radiation are just some of the challenges the space presents.

The student group did not pick a specific lander to piggyback on, but the rover can be attached to any nation's lunar lander. They didn't pick a time for that launch. They have already planned for the next stage.

One of the advantages of the small size is that it is cheap to make. Someone can make more of them by connecting them in a swarm. The TU Delft team is one of the many teams with that idea. More insight can be provided by linking multiple small robotic systems together.

The team needs to have their first lunar mission under their belt in order to move on to the next part of the mission. There are advantages of a student run team. The project enhances the reputation of the university as a place where students can work on advanced projects, because they will have a constant supply of students willing to work on it. Students leave after a certain amount of time. Some have gone on to make their own space-related companies, but, more importantly, it allows the university to provide its students with the experience of participating in and even leading technical projects. Someday, they will be able to say they worked on a moon rover.

You can learn more.

The Lunar Zebro is a project of the European Space Agency and the University of Twente.

Masten Space is building a lunar landing craft. They just filed for Chapter 11.

The UT is called lunar rovers. You can transform and roll out.

Five Rover teams were chosen to help explore the moon.