Structural analysis and design of a micro-rover for lunar applications based on Coyote-III

The utilization of resources as well as scientific research for a human outpost has shifted the spotlight back to earth’s natural satellite, the moon. Many of these endeavors require the exploration and analysis of the lunar surface. Miniaturized unmanned autonomous systems are particularly suitable for these tasks. Micro-rovers such as DFKIs Coyote-III can already carry out some of the demanded tasks in terrestrial simulation scenarios. For the application in space, however, they must be able to fulfill several additional equirements.
This presentation aims to give a general overview of the essential steps that will be performed to analyze the structural resilience of the current structural design of Coyote-III. Different load cases for a general rover missions will be pointed out with a particular emphasis on the extreme launch conditions, which will be the focus of the master thesis. The basic concept of the Finite Element Method (FEM) will be explained to further convey how the analysis will be performed. This does include not only the model discretization but also the available mesh types. The FEM preparation process for the conversion from CAD-Geometry to the FEM-Model will be shown based on an example.
At last, the implementation of the mentioned launch conditions on the generated mesh model will be presented in a generic manner. This includes the application of the critical loads combined with the chosen boundary conditions which represent the mounting of the rover on a possible lander.