Coyote III


Technical Details

Size: 994 x 584 x 380 mm
Weight: Ca. 12.5 kg (excl. payload subsystems) ca. 20 kg (incl. payload subsystems) (10 – 15 kg payload capacity)
Power supply: LiPo primary battery: 44.4 V; 4.5 Ah
Speed: 1,3 m/s
Actuation/ Engine:
4-wheel drive: Robodrive ILM 50x08 bldc-motor with Harmonic Drive gearing (80:1) for hybrid legged-wheels (5 legs)
Sensors:
- Laser range finder: Hokuyo UST-20LX
- Camera: Basler Ace (2048 x 2048 px, 25fps)
- IMU: Xsens MTi-300 AHRS
Communication:
- Mobile access point: 2.4 GHz, 802.11n, - Remote control: Bluetooth - Remote stop: 868 MHz Xbee-Pro
On-Board Computer:
IntelCore i7-3555LE, 2,5 GHz
Structure and Mechanisms:
- CFRO based semi-monocoque housing paired with lightweight aluminum structure - Passive roll joint at rear axis acting as chassis

Organisational Details

Sponsor: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
German Aerospace Center e.V.
Grant number: This project is funded by the German Space Agency (DLR Agentur) with federal funds of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in accordance with the parliamentary resolution of the German Parliament, grant no. 50 RA 1301.
Application Field: Space Robotics
SAR- & Security Robotics
Related Projects: NoStrandAMust
Learning Ground Interaction Models to Increase the Autonomy of Mobile Robotic Exploration Systems (02.2022- 01.2025)
SAMLER-KI
Semi-autonomous micro rover for lunar exploration using artificial intelligence (11.2022- 10.2025)
TRAILER
Tandem of Rover and Associated Wain for Lunar Extended Roaming (09.2019- 08.2021)
SEARCH
Surface Exploration Android Remotely Controlled by Humans (08.2020- 01.2022)
Skylight
Tethered Micro Rover for Safe Semi-Autonomous Exploration of Lava Tubes (07.2020- 10.2020)
Search and Rescue
Search and Rescue: Emerging technologies for the Early location of Entrapped victims under Collapsed Structures and Advanced Wearables for risk assessment and First Responders Safety in SAR operations (07.2020- 06.2023)
CoRob-X
Cooperative Robots for Extreme Environments (03.2021- 02.2023)
MODKOM
Modular components as Building Blocks for application-specific configurable space robots (07.2021- 06.2024)
SIROM (OG5)
Standard Interface for Robotic Manipulation of Payloads in Future Space Missions (11.2016- 02.2019)
FT-Utah
Field Trials Utah with the TransTerrA System (06.2016- 03.2017)
TransTerrA
Semi-autonomous cooperative exploration of planetary surfaces including the installation of a logistic chain as well as consideration of the terrestrial applicability of individual aspects (05.2013- 12.2017)
Related Robots: Coyote II
High Mobile Micro Rover
ASGUARD II
Advanced Security Guard V2
ASGUARD III
Advanced Security Guard V3
ASGUARD IV
Advanced Security Guard V4
Related Software: NDLCom
Node Level Data Link Communication
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate ActionGerman Aerospace Center e.V.

System description

Coyote III system overview, CAD rendering (Photo: Roland Sonsalla, DFKI)
Coyote III equipped with the manipulator module SIMA (Photo: Roland Sonsalla, DFKI)
Coyote III with fully integrated rover system-bus (current state May 2015) (Photo: Roland Sonsalla, DFKI)
Coyote III with round wheels in a sand field (Photo: Jan Albiez, DFKI)
Coyote III is a micro rover with high mobility performance in unstructured terrains. Equipped with its own power source, on-board sensor suite and computer it is able to perform autonomous exploration tasks. The communication subsystem allows to cooperate with other systems. Coyote III will be equipped with two standardized electro-mechanical interfaces, allowing to dock additional payload elements, such as a manipulator or standardized payload items. Due to the lightweight and robust structural design of Coyote III, it is possible to apply several kilograms of additional payload to the rover. The modular design approach allows to adapt the rover structure according to specific payload requirements.

Coyote III is developed within the scope of the project TransTerrA which aims to implement a logistics chain, based on a heterogeneous team of mobile and stationary robotic devices. While Coyote III is designed to be used as a modular rover platform, it is envisaged to operate as shuttle rover the logistics chain. The shuttles main task is to realize the transport of payload items between the exploration rover and different stationary modules.

Coyote III represents an enhanced design of the Coyote II rover, which was successfully tested and operated as micro scout rover. The design considerations and development concept of Coyote III is directly derived from the lessons learned of Coyote II as well as the given reference mission scenario. A modular design concept based on lightweight construction was chosen for Coyote III allowing to implement additional payload elements. Following the modularity concept introduced by the logistics chain, Coyote III will be equipped with two standardized electro-mechanical interfaces. They allow to dock additional payload items to the rover and provide the potential of extending the functionality of the rover platform. For payload item handling, a modular manipulator has been developed, which can be cocked to Coyote III via its electro-mechanical interfaces.

Besides the primar scenario with respect to extraterrestrial exploration, Coyote III can be applied to terrestrial applications as well, such as search and rescue and /or security. Especially the compact design and high mobility of Coyote III provide benefits within these fields. Furthermore, the modular design as well as the docking interfaces allow to adapt and/or equip the rover with dedicated payloads for each mission.

Back to the list of robot systems
© DFKI GmbH
last updated 24.03.2023
to top