Mars Exploration Rovers as Virtual Instruments for Determination of Terrain Roughness and Physical Properties

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5410 Composition, 5460 Physical Properties Of Materials

Scientific paper

The two 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) in combination with the Athena Payload, will be used as virtual instrument system to infer terrain properties during traverses, in addition to using the rover wheels to excavate trenches, exposing subsurface materials for remote and _ in-situ observations. Specifically, finite element rover system transfer functions are being developed that utilize the distribution of masses associated with the vehicle, suspension and wheel dynamics, and imaging to be able to infer surface roughness and mechanical properties (e.g., from wheel tracks) from traverse time series data containing vehicle yaw, pitch, roll, and motor currents. The approach is being validated using the FIDO rover and experiment MER engineering model vehicles. In addition, trenches can be excavated to depths of approximately 10-20 cm by locking all but one of the front wheels and rotating that wheel backwards so that the excavated material is piled up on the side of the trench away from the vehicle. Soil cohesion and angle of internal friction can be determined from the trench telemetry data. Emission spectroscopy and _ in-situ observations can be made using the Athena payload before and after imaging. Trenching and observational protocols have been developed using the FIDO rover, including trenches dug into sand, mud cracks, and weakly indurated bedrock. When combined with Athena-based imaging and other data, traverse and trenching observations can be used to characterize terrains and associated properties at the two MER landing sites.

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