Detailed Modeling of Designs for the Polar Seismic TETwalker

Among the technologies developed by NASA for space exploration, the TETwalker robot is one of the latest. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and CReSIS (Center of Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets) are proposing to adapt this technology for polar seismic data acquisition. In this paper, we discuss the design process for this project, explaining in detail each of the models created. This document summarizes the ideas, concepts, and detailed models our team developed for the TETwalker’s employment for polar seismic exploration, including deployment of a geophone or broadband seismometer. This document also explains the design process of the incorporation of subsurface imaging equipment to the L.A.R.A (Lander Amorphous Rover Antenna) technology, which is a sheet-like TETwalker architecture. A small prototype was fabricated by the team in order to demonstrate the geophone insertion and retrieval process.