Lunar Rover | Beatty Robotics

We’ve been working hard on the Lunar Rover for the aerospace company SpaceLS. Some of the photos show the robot in its “Stored Position”. When instructed to do so, the robot folds down its mast and stores it beneath the robot. The solar wings also fold down. The goal of this position is to make the robot more compact for transport on SpaceLS’s rocket. All the components of the robot are machined out of 6061 aircraft aluminum, other than the solar top and solar wings, which are machined carbon fiber.

FRONT VIEW

SIDE VIEW (OUR MOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND)

LUNAR ROVER IN ITS “STORAGE POSITION”, WITH THE MAST AND SOLAR WINGS FOLDED

ROCKER-BOGIE SUSPENSION SYSTEM (RIGHT-HAND SOLAR WING REMOVED)

SOLAR TOP AND SOLAR WINGS (REAR TOP VIEW)

FRONT VIEW WHEN IN “STORAGE POSITION”

CORNER VIEW WHEN IN “STORAGE POSITION”

FRONT VIEW – MAST TURNED

TESTING A ROVER OF A SIMILAR DESIGN AT ASHEVILLE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE (SOLAR WINGS REMOVED)
https://vimeo.com/186489953

Posts on the construction of this robot:

https://beatty-robotics.com/lunar-rover-solar-panels/
https://beatty-robotics.com/were-building-a-lunar-rover/

7 Comments

Chris on May 11, 2016 at 1:25 pm

That is just downright impressive. For a “hobbyist” level robot I’m sure it makes a lot of NASA engineers envious. Cant wait to see some trials.

David on May 11, 2016 at 5:15 pm

Well done!

John @ NYC CNC on May 12, 2016 at 12:56 pm

This is looking AWESOME!!!

Fred on May 13, 2016 at 5:18 am

Man the robot looks so good, you’ve done an amazing job. I can see you have improved a lot since your first projects. I have a question. How do you choose your servo motors that are used to rotate the wheels and the motors that are used to move the robot?, i mean the torque and the traction that you gonna need to allow the robot go through obstacles. PS: sorry about my english and regards from spain!!

Matt on May 13, 2016 at 8:26 am

This looks awesome! would love to see it in action!

Camille on May 13, 2016 at 12:40 pm

For the turning servos, we selected the highest-torque, standard-sized servos that HiTec makes. Torque and reliability was our requirement, rather than speed. On the drive motors, we selected powerful planetary gear motors of the right torque and speed so that the rover’s suspension system can climb over obstacles.

Kenneth on May 29, 2016 at 9:28 pm

I like seeing the continual progress you girls seem to manage. This project is a great example of a large amount of work in a short amount of time.

Chris on May 11, 2016 at 1:25 pm

That is just downright impressive. For a “hobbyist” level robot I’m sure it makes a lot of NASA engineers envious. Cant wait to see some trials.
David on May 11, 2016 at 5:15 pm

Well done!
John @ NYC CNC on May 12, 2016 at 12:56 pm

This is looking AWESOME!!!
Fred on May 13, 2016 at 5:18 am

Man the robot looks so good, you’ve done an amazing job. I can see you have improved a lot since your first projects. I have a question. How do you choose your servo motors that are used to rotate the wheels and the motors that are used to move the robot?, i mean the torque and the traction that you gonna need to allow the robot go through obstacles. PS: sorry about my english and regards from spain!!
Matt on May 13, 2016 at 8:26 am

This looks awesome! would love to see it in action!
Camille on May 13, 2016 at 12:40 pm

For the turning servos, we selected the highest-torque, standard-sized servos that HiTec makes. Torque and reliability was our requirement, rather than speed. On the drive motors, we selected powerful planetary gear motors of the right torque and speed so that the rover’s suspension system can climb over obstacles.
Kenneth on May 29, 2016 at 9:28 pm

I like seeing the continual progress you girls seem to manage. This project is a great example of a large amount of work in a short amount of time.