Official Release
High Technology (Condensed)
Our rover design is not only capable of performing the actions required by the Google Lunar X-Prize but it would also be able to complete other scientific missions. This page discusses some key points about our rover design. More information can be found at each respective page.
Wheel Design:
We decided to use a 5 wheel design. In the wheel layout, there would be four stationary powered wheels in the front and one heavily powered wheel that would turn the rover and generally control its movements. The front two wheels, in our design, do not need to have separate power, as one motor per axil will be sufficient. However, the back wheel is connected to its own motor and power supply.
Encountering Driving Difficulties:
In a worst case scenario, the rover may encounter difficulties while exploring the surface of the moon. In some cases the rover may actually flip and roll onto its backside. Normally at this point in time the command center would not be able to recover and people’s spirits would be broken. However Ontic Development has found a way to incorporate the Linear Induction Magnet technology into its design.
In this scene the rover is traveling on a steep bank, when suddenly and dramatically the rover flips and slides down the bank. Stuck at the bottom of the crater, covered in moon dust, the rover seems defeated. But strategically placed Linear Induction Magnets will save the rover.
They are placed in four points around the rover, and are normally balanced in such a way to distribute weight equally and can move up or down to continuously provide balance. In this imbalance, the rover would begin its chiquenaude, where all four of the magnets extract upwards to its maximum extent. Two (on one side) will extend in the opposite direction as the other two. (Like a car jack would push a car up on one side, the two magnets act as two car jacks.) All four of the magnets accelerate using the linear induction magnet technology. Two extend and stop to adjust the weight, and the other simultaneously pound into the moon to flip the rover over.
After the flip the rover will readjust the magnets and gently let the wheels touch the ground. In the current scenario, the back wheel will used to push itself out of the crater and complete its mission, return to the “Impact” vehicle and preform a self cleaning.
Wi-Fi On the Moon
Essentially the rover will need a simple quick way to communicate video, images and commands to the “Impact” vehicle which acts like a relay before the information is sent to a satellite and down to earth.
Unfortunately our normal Wi-Fi technology only allows for about 100-150+ feet of solid signal strength without obstructions, however Wi-Max the of long distance high speed data transmit is perfect four our situation. A lower power radio frequency can also be used should the rover loose Wi-Max connection with the relay module. A 64GB Solid State Memory hard drive inside the rover will be able to withstand these harsh conditions and store media when it cannot transfer the data faster than it is capturing it.
Dust = Evil
Another major problem on the moon is dust. While roving around the moon, the rover will pick up an unimaginable amount of moon dust which seems to get itself stuck in every crevice could leave a normal rover inoperable. Ontic Development has found a few simple ways to remove these dust problems.
The first way is for out exploring the rover can stop and vibrate certain parts of the rover using haptic motors, gently shaking the dust off the rover. Back at the “Impact” vehicle, the rover can re-board to recharge and also be cleaned.
Once inside the compartment the doors reseal and pressurize the interior. Jets of compressed air will move over the rover, and small moveable arms will target problem areas.
The rover can be fully cleaned; the air used from cleaning will be filtered via vacuuming the air, filtering all of the dust and the refilling the compressed air tanks.
These are just a few of the many awesome features designed by Ontic Development Group.