Contact Dynamics Simulation of Rover Locomotion

Software simulations of the locomotion play an important role in the chassis design and dimensioning phase of planetary rovers. In this paper two key modeling techniques for simulating the physical contact between rover wheels and planetary surface will be presented. The first one is PCM (Polygonal Contact Model). Generally, PCM provides the contact dynamics between two bodies, which are specified by polygonal surfaces and elastic surface layers. Here PCM is applied to the physical contact between wheels and hard rocks. The second one is SCM (Soil Contact Model) that represents the interaction between wheels and soft loose soil. SCM provides the dynamics of a plastically deformable surface using an elevation grid description. Both methods are prepared to be applied inside a multi-body simulation tool. The presented simulation results show two representative applications for the introduced contact dynamics models in terms of rover wheel drive design and multipass effect assessments.