Student Poster Abstracts

摘要

This paper describes work on characterizing the traverse of the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers across the Dingo Gap wind-blown ripple crossed by Curiosity on Sols 533 and 535 and understanding the performance of both rovers on ripples as a function of wheel size, material properties, and attack angles. The Dingo Gap ripple traverse was simulated using ARTEMIS (Adams-based Rover Terramechanics and Mobility Interaction Simulator), a software tool consisting of realistic mechanical models of the rovers, a wheel-terrain interaction module, and terrain models. ARTEMIS simulations using soil parameters similar to those of the sand at Dumont Dunes, California yielded slip values near those of Curiosity crossing the Dingo Gap ripple, including skid on downslope portions of the ripple. Simulated torque on the rear drive actuators during the ripple ascent was significantly higher than that of the middle and front drive actuators, consistent with higher loading on the rear wheels. The simulated traverse of Opportunity showed that the rover would have failed to pass over the ripple, approaching 100% slip before reaching the crest. In addition to simulations, mobility tests of SSTB-lite and Scarecrow, Opportunity and Curiosity engineering test rovers, respectively, were performed on sand dunes at Dumont Dunes. SSTB-lite approached 100% slip on a Dingo Gap analog before embedding near the ripple crest while Scarecrow successfully traversed steep manmade sand ripples with pitch approaching 20°.