Tag: Mars curiosity rover

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Structure Components Functions Movement Structure System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Wheels of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has 6 wheels. Different from its predecessor, each of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels has a total of 48 gently curved treads instead of 24 chevron-patterned treads. For the wheels of our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, all the curved treads will be perfectly replicated.

Other than changing the wheel patterns, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels are around 8.5mm thick, which is around 1mm thicker than the Curiosity rover, not including the pattern thickness on the wheel surface. Proportionally, the thickness of our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s wheel should be 1mm, but in order for the wheels to be strong enough to support the rover body and the loads onboard and bear the rocky terrain, we will make the thickness of the Mars Rover Replica‘s wheel 2 mm.

The diameter of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels is 52.5 centimeters or 20.7 inches, which is a little bit larger than the Curiosity Mars Rover’s 50.8-centimeter or 20-inch wheels. The diameter of the wheels of our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica is 26.25 centimeters or 10.35 inches.

The reason to change the tire pattern and to make the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels thicker is due to the wear and tear that the Curiosity Mars rover’s wheels experienced. And this actually affects Curiosity’s performance on the Martian sand. But now with the new design, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels are more resistant to the harsh Martian surface condition. The wheels of our 1:2 Mars Perseverance Rover Replica are strong enough as well to survive many kinds of rock terrains.

While the spokes of the wheel were made of titanium, the PMars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s tires were machined from aluminum that is widely used in the airplane industry, and it is a type of shape memory alloys. This shape-memory aluminum allows the tires to adapt to the Martian terrain, which is very much like a shock absorption system to provide the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover with a stable ride and minimize damages to the tires and hence to the instruments carried by the rover. The shape-shifting material makes the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s tires light-weight, more durable and they have better traction performance while driving on the Martian rocky roads. For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, the spokes are made of aluminum and the wheel surface is made of steel. The reason we choose these two materials to build our Mars Rover Replica is explained in this post [Designing the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica’s Wheels].

With one full turn of the wheels, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover can move forward a distance of 1.65 meters, or 65 inches. The Perseverance Mars rover can go as fast as 152 m/h, or 4.2 cm/s, which might not seem very fast compared to Earth’s vehicles, but the slow speed actually helps the Perseverance Mars Rover conserve energy for the long-term mission. In terms of our Mars Rover Replica, how fast it can go is still to be determined, but we will try to match the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s speed.

Compared with the Curiosity Mar rover, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is much more autonomous in terms of driving. The software onboard allows the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to decide which way it wants to go, which means the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will travel much further without having to confirm with Earth each time about the driving paths. For our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, you will remotely control it with screens showing real-time video captured by the cameras mounted around the body of the Mars rover replica.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover‘s wheels work with a Rocker-Bogie suspension system when interacting with the surface of Mars. This Rocker-Bogie design allows the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to go over obstacles twice the height of the wheel and allows the loads onboard evenly distributed on the 6 wheels. In our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, the Rocker-Bogie feature is perfectly replicated, so you can expect that our Mars Rover Replica will also be able to drive over obstacles that are twice the height of its wheels and have the loads evenly distributed on 6 wheels.

Synonyms: cleats, raised treads, grousers

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Structure Components Functions Science Instrument of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

MEDA of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 2

Radiation and Dust sensors

The radiation and dust sensor assembly for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MEDA is located on the top deck. Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the radiation and dust sensor assembly but they won’t be actual sensors.  This Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MEDA’s radiation and dust sensor assembly consists of photodetectors and a charge-coupled device, and the purpose is to study the characteristics of the Martian dust, such as its shape, size, or opacity. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA inherited a lot of features from previous space missions.

For example, from the Curiosity Rover mission, the rover environmental monitoring station (REMS) is applied on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. It is a set of sensors that are designed to work and collect information on a low atmosphere, which includes air and ground temperature sensors, wind sensors, humidity and pressure sensors, and a photometer.

From the Mars MetNet Lander Mission, the solar irradiance sensor (MetSIS) is inherited. Mars is a cold planet compared to our Earth. Moreover, the entry, descent, and landing process for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover are extremely bumpy. Both harsh conditions could potentially affect the sensors. Therefore, this sensor is specially designed so that it can endure the landing impact and also operate normally at low temperatures. It consists of 32 detecting elements in 11 spectral bands. The sample rate and channels to be sample can both be manually and autonomously configured.

From the ExoMars 2016 Lander mission, DREAMS, which is short for Dust characterization, Risk assessment, and Environment Analyzer on the Martian Surface is inherited to the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s version of DREAMS has 7 detectors. These detectors are arranged so that a 360 ° azimuth is possible.

From the Mars Exploration Rover Misson and Mars Science Laboratory mission. the HazCams is applied to the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and now is renamed as SkyCam on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structures of the REMS, MetSIS, DREAMS, and the HazCam, though they won’t have the functions as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA’s radiation and dust sensors are the first set of sensors that are specially for studying the sun brightness and dust conditions. This will help scientists model the atmospheric conditions of Mars and prepare for human exploration in the future.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Robotic Arm the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is located on the front of the rover’s chassis. It has a length of 7 feet or 2.1 meters, which is the same length as its predecessor, the Curiosity rover.  Our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm has a length of 3.5 feet or 1.05 meters. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm wields a rotating 45kg (or 99 lbs) turret assembly, which is 15kg (or 34 lbs) heavier than the Curiosity rover’s turret assembly because it carries bigger science instruments and a bigger corer for drilling compared to the Curiosity rover. The weight of our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will not be that heavy, because the instruments on it will only be decorations (but ultra-realistic decorations), and the material we use will be lightweight.

The purpose of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is to help with exploring the Martian surface and collecting valuable Martian samples. It mimics the human arm – it has joints at its “shoulder”, “elbow” and “wrist” for maximum degrees of freedom. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have as many degrees of freedom as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm. If the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is a human scientist, then the robotic arm is his human arm. At the end of the robotic arm, there is a turret assembly or a hand, and on the hand, there are the science instruments (SHERLOC, WASTON, PIXL), the gDRT, the Corer, and the ground contact sensor which are for Martian rock and soil sample caching. The gDRT and the ground contact sensor are introduced in [Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Mars Rover].

There are some small motors or rotary actuators on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm, and with these actuators, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm has 5 degrees of freedom or 5 flexible joints: the shoulder azimuth joint, the shoulder elevation joint, the elbow joint, the wrist joint and the turret joint. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have these motors – not the same type or the same size, but the function of the motors is the same –  so that the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm is also 5 degree of freedom. The flexibility of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm allows it to rotate the turret accurately to a location of interest so that the corer can start its initial abrading operation for the later sampling process, or for the science instruments analyzing process.

After the science team on Earth decides which rocks or regolith to sample, Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will give the robotic arm the “go” for sample caching. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will rotate the corer to an angle that is best for the drill bit to operate. Depending on the condition of the drilling site, the drill will choose the rotary mode or the percussive mode for the sample caching. After the sample rocks or regolith are collected, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will transfer the sample tubes to the bit carousel for the later processes. Although the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm doesn’t have the function like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, users can control the Mars Rover Replica to drive and mimic the movement of the robotic arm.