Presents the development of a novel mobile robot concept, the dual-use mobile detachable manipulator, or the (DM)/sup 2/, for the lunar environment. The robot comprises two basic parts, namely a mobile base and a manipulator which can step on the base, or detach from the base with self-mobility. When the manipulator attaches on the base, it is capable of moving on the lunar surface for exploration tasks such as surface survey, measurement, and transportation. When the manipulator detaches from the base, it can walk (or climb) on a lunar station structure such as a manufacturing center or testbed for maintenance tasks such as structure inspection, part delivery, and simple assembly. Here the authors report the development of the concept, the design of the manipulator and preliminary experiments, a graphical simulator, a real-time control hardware and software, low-level control scheme, coordination of both base and manipulator, and a 1/6 gravity compensation system.
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