Design and Autonomous Control of the Active Adaptive Suspension System Rudra Mars Rover

摘要

Semi or completely autonomous unmanned vehicles, remotely driven orcontrolled through artificial intelligence, are instrumental to foster spaceexploration. One of the most essential tasks of a rover is terrain traversingwhich requires the need of efficient suspension systems. This communicationpresents a suspension system giving degrees of freedom to every wheel with thehelp of linear actuators connected through bell crank levers. The actuation oflinear actuators directly varies the height of every wheel from the chassishence offering articulation to the rover. A control system is developedoffering an algorithm for its autonomous actuation. This system provesinstrumental for leveling of the chassis where any kind of slope, roll orpitch, may impute abstaining of payloads from efficient working. This was triedand tested successfully as a part of the rover developed by Team RUDRA from SRMUniversity, INDIA (first Team from Asia and finishing at the fifth position) atUniversity Rover Challenge 2013, held at UTAH, USA in May-June.