Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper
The lunar lava tubes are envisioned as possible hosting structures for a human base in the Moon’s equatorial regions, providing shelter from radiations, micrometeoroids, and temperature excursion. A first robotic mission is set to scout the habitability of these underground architectures in the near...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Aerospace |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/8/669 |
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| author | Jasmine Rimani Giordana Bucchioni Andrea Dan Ryals Nicole Viola Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez |
| author_facet | Jasmine Rimani Giordana Bucchioni Andrea Dan Ryals Nicole Viola Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez |
| author_sort | Jasmine Rimani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The lunar lava tubes are envisioned as possible hosting structures for a human base in the Moon’s equatorial regions, providing shelter from radiations, micrometeoroids, and temperature excursion. A first robotic mission is set to scout the habitability of these underground architectures in the near future. The communication inside these underground tunnels is heavily constrained; hence, the scouting system should rely on a high degree of autonomy. At the same time, the exploration system may encounter different types of terrain, requiring an adaptable mobility subsystem able to travel fast on basaltic terrain while avoiding considerable obstacles. This paper presents a cave explorer’s mission study and preliminary sizing targeting the lunar lava tubes. The study proposes using a hybrid mobility system with wheels and thrusters to navigate smoothly inside the lava tubes. The peculiar mobility system of the cave explorer requires an accurate study of the adaptability of its control capabilities with the change of mass for a given set of sensors and actuators. The combination of conceptual design techniques and control assessment gives the engineer a clear indication of the feasible design box for the studied system during the initial formulation phases of a mission. This first part of the study focuses on framing the stakeholders’ needs and identifying the required capabilities of the cave explorer. Furthermore, the study focuses on assessing a design box in terms of mass and power consumption for the cave explorer. Following different mission-level assessments, a more detailed design of the cave explorer is discussed, providing an initial design in terms of mass and power consumption. Finally, the objective shifts toward studying the performances of the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms varying the mass of the cave explorer. The GNC significantly impacts the design box of the surface planetary system. Hence, investigating its limitations can indicate the feasibility of mass growth to accommodate, for example, more payload. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:13:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14d6b95d027d4309ba6c8617e021eb70 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:13:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj.art-14d6b95d027d4309ba6c8617e021eb702023-11-18T23:49:36ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102023-07-0110866910.3390/aerospace10080669Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar HopperJasmine Rimani0Giordana Bucchioni1Andrea Dan Ryals2Nicole Viola3Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez4Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, Via Caruso 16, 56017 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Information Engineering, Via Caruso 16, 56017 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Aerospace Vehicles Design and Control, ISAE-SUPAERO, 10 Av. Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, FranceThe lunar lava tubes are envisioned as possible hosting structures for a human base in the Moon’s equatorial regions, providing shelter from radiations, micrometeoroids, and temperature excursion. A first robotic mission is set to scout the habitability of these underground architectures in the near future. The communication inside these underground tunnels is heavily constrained; hence, the scouting system should rely on a high degree of autonomy. At the same time, the exploration system may encounter different types of terrain, requiring an adaptable mobility subsystem able to travel fast on basaltic terrain while avoiding considerable obstacles. This paper presents a cave explorer’s mission study and preliminary sizing targeting the lunar lava tubes. The study proposes using a hybrid mobility system with wheels and thrusters to navigate smoothly inside the lava tubes. The peculiar mobility system of the cave explorer requires an accurate study of the adaptability of its control capabilities with the change of mass for a given set of sensors and actuators. The combination of conceptual design techniques and control assessment gives the engineer a clear indication of the feasible design box for the studied system during the initial formulation phases of a mission. This first part of the study focuses on framing the stakeholders’ needs and identifying the required capabilities of the cave explorer. Furthermore, the study focuses on assessing a design box in terms of mass and power consumption for the cave explorer. Following different mission-level assessments, a more detailed design of the cave explorer is discussed, providing an initial design in terms of mass and power consumption. Finally, the objective shifts toward studying the performances of the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms varying the mass of the cave explorer. The GNC significantly impacts the design box of the surface planetary system. Hence, investigating its limitations can indicate the feasibility of mass growth to accommodate, for example, more payload.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/8/669MBSEGNCMRACspace systems designlava tubeslunar hopper |
| spellingShingle | Jasmine Rimani Giordana Bucchioni Andrea Dan Ryals Nicole Viola Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper Aerospace MBSE GNC MRAC space systems design lava tubes lunar hopper |
| title | Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper |
| title_full | Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper |
| title_fullStr | Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper |
| title_short | Integrated Conceptual Design and Parametric Control Assessment for a Hybrid Mobility Lunar Hopper |
| title_sort | integrated conceptual design and parametric control assessment for a hybrid mobility lunar hopper |
| topic | MBSE GNC MRAC space systems design lava tubes lunar hopper |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/8/669 |
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