The advanced control technology of the Scout robotic system was developed to explore lava caves in space. Conventional rovers can only reach the steep and jagged walls of craters to a limited extent. It is assumed that lava caves on celestial bodies such as the Moon and Mars were formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. These underground networks could contain evidence of past or present life. The system could also be used on Earth, e.g. in the search for buried victims or in agricultural robotics. With the first prototype having TRL 4 after starting the development in 2016 the main goal of the mission concept is to be mission-ready, i.e. reach TRL 8, by 2030.
Overcoming rough terrain is still a challenging task for mobile robots. In terrestrial applications, the focus is usually on "search and rescue" scenarios with highly unstructured ground or even collapsed buildings. The solution for such scenarios is usually a leg-driven system. However, these very agile systems have the disadvantage of high mechatronic complexity and require high computing power. Especially in planetary exploration, these disadvantages mean that these systems cannot be realised in current and near-future missions.
The DLR "Scout" rover therefore uses a novel, flexible spoked wheel and deformable back elements to overcome obstacles. It has only one fully rotational drive per wheel. Together with the compliant elements, this enables energy-efficient, dynamic and, above all, robust locomotion in the toughest terrain.the aim of the Scout Rover is to explore previously inaccessible areas such as crater walls and caves on foreign planets. The system not only overcomes hard, rocky obstacles but also "paddles" through extremely soft sand pits where wheel-driven systems would fail. For the exploration of caves on Mars and the Moon, the DLR team is working closely with cave explorers on Earth to adapt the system to the special conditions and high demands of this terrain in the best possible way. On Earth, the robust system can be used, for example, to support the rescue of buried persons or in agricultural robotics, and for the Institute of System Dynamics and Control, the system's modularity enables the verification of optimisation calculations and simulations as well as the testing of innovative control approaches for electromobility on other planets and our own.
Overcoming rough terrain is still a challenging task for mobile robots. In terrestrial applications, the focus is usually on search & rescue scenarios with highly unstructured ground or even collapsed buildings. The solution for such scenarios is usually a leg-driven system. However, these very agile systems have the disadvantage of high mechatronic complexity and require high computing power. Especially in planetary exploration, these systems are therefore not realisable in current and near-future missions due to their disadvantages. For this reason, the DLR "Scout" rover uses a novel, flexible spoked wheel (publication on the concept: https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/...) and back elements to overcome obstacles. It has only one fully rotational drive per wheel. Together with the compliant elements, this enables energy-efficient, dynamic and robust locomotion over the toughest terrain. The aim of the "Scout" rover is to explore previously inaccessible areas such as crater walls and caves on foreign planets. On Earth, the robust system can be used, for example, to support the rescue of buried victims or in agricultural robotics.
Mars Rover "Scout" during test run on the DLR test field
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Mars Rover "Scout" during test run on the DLR test field
Overcoming rough terrain is still a challenging task for mobile robots. In terrestrial applications, the focus is usually on search & rescue scenarios with highly unstructured ground or even collapsed buildings. The solution for such scenarios is usually a leg-driven system. However, these very agile systems have the disadvantage of high mechatronic complexity and require high computing power. Especially in planetary exploration, these systems are therefore not realisable in current and near-future missions due to their disadvantages. For this reason, the DLR "Scout" rover uses a novel, flexible spoked wheel (publication on the concept: https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/...) and back elements to overcome obstacles. It has only one fully rotational drive per wheel. Together with the compliant elements, this enables energy-efficient, dynamic and robust locomotion over the toughest terrain. The aim of the "Scout" rover is to explore previously inaccessible areas such as crater walls and caves on foreign planets. On Earth, the robust system can be used, for example, to support the rescue of buried victims or in agricultural robotics.
