JALURO is
an open-source two-wheeled lunar exploration robot. The robot is the entry of
Team FREDNET in the Google Lunar X Prize competition. JALURO, which stands for
"Just Another LUnar RObot", carries its payload underslung between
two wheels.
Charlie Masi, of Control
Engineering, has this to say about the two-wheeled
JALURO design:
Being
underslung, it is in stable static equilibrium. Having independently controlled
motors for each wheel, it is fairly simple to
drive forward, backward, and to make turns in any direction with any radius
from zero to infinity. It really is a neat concept!
The problem is that the
underslung chassis acts like a pendulum or, more precisely, a rocking chair.
Notice that the rocking amplitude seems almost random, depending mainly on the
shape of any disturbing impulses. The problem is most obvious when the vehicle
comes to a stop. The chassis can be seen to rock forward and back for some time
after the forward motion ceases. This will be worse on the moon, where there is
no damping from air resistance to slow the motion down...
The good news is that this
problem is apparently surmountable, with an equation of motion that is
"fairly straightforward."
FREDNET is the only
open-source entry in the Lunar X
Prize competition; they have a pretty exciting idea - that space is open
for everyone! Fred Bourgeois describes his vision this way:
"Going for the moon.
Open-source. Interested? My dream was about getting into space; exploring,
discovering, learning and teaching. To do that, space needed to become more
accessible. What better way to advance accessibility than through open-source
and open participation?"
I'm sure there are lunar
exploration robots elsewhere in science fiction, but somehow I was reminded of
Arthur C. Clarke's spider
tripod robot from his 1972 novel Rendezvous With Rama. It is also a
"neat concept", and it has some obvious control challenges. (If you
think a three-legged robot is impossible, take a look at the STriDER
Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot .)
Learn more about Team FREDNET; watch a JALURO
demonstration video. See also Ask Charlie
comments on 2-wheel robotic vehicles.
(This Science Fiction in
the News story used with permission of Technovelgy.com)
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