Tumbleweed Rovers: NASA Computer Model Mars
For about this 10 years, NASA engineers have been rolling their brains of the Tumbleweed Mars Rover. This idea will be an uncouth but slight ball, and sensors plus another electronics securely added on inside. This thing will move only cause of the Martian wind, like botanical namesake.
People who are doing this research at North Carolina State University have worked out a computer model which could test this Tumbleweed-Rover designs before they are ever goes up.
“You can’t just build hundreds of different rover designs to see what works – it’s too expensive,” said Alexandre Hartl, a Ph.D. student who took part in the research. “This model allows us to determine which designs may be most viable. Then we can move forward to build and test the most promising candidates.”
This program considers some factors such as elasticity, diameter and overall mass. The designs also tested in wind conditions vary and also in various Martian terrains like craters or rock fields.
“We wanted a way to determine how different tumbleweed rover designs would behave under the various conditions that may be faced on the Martian surface,” said Dr. Andre Mazzoleni, co-author of a paper describing the research. “The model that we’ve developed is important, because it will help NASA make informed decisions about the final design characteristics of any tumbleweed rovers it ultimately sends to Mars.”
The Tumbleweed-Rover was funded by NASA and the North Carolina Space Grant Consortium.