Rover Design

The rover design is the most elaborate and time-consuming part of the X-Prize. Most of all the work goes into designing and building an efficient and inexpensive rover that will get the job done. All of this takes months if not years to plan and actually build. If anything goes wrong when the rover is on the Moon, there is nothing we can do but watch, wait, and hope for the best. Therefore we must try to consider all the possible errors and bugs that might occur when we are on the Moon. Some important considerations we must make include designing the rover to be able to withstand the frigid temperatures of a Lunar night. Also the rover must not be damaged by the radiation from the sun and all of the pieces must be sturdy and reliant.
rover

Body: The rover's vital organs are stored in it's Body, which resembles a box in shape and is approximately 1 yard by 1 yard by 1 yard. The body protects all of the equipment from the vast range of temperatures that are found on the Moon's Surface. It is couted with a thin layer of gold paint, which helps keep the heat in when the temperature drops. This box is made up of a strong new material called RXF1. This material is light weight and is made up of polyethylene, which is the material that most trash bags are made up of. RXF1 protects the rover from radiation and is three times stronger than aluminum, yet is 2.6 times lighter. The box will sufficiently protect all the rover's vital equipment from radiation, temperature, and the elements. [19][9]
rover

Power: The rover is mainly powered by a series of solar panels planted on top of it's body. These solar panels are capably of producing 140 watts per hour. The rover only needs approximately 100 watts of power to drive, and stores the rest in rechargeable batteries for latter use, such as during the lunar night to help heat the rover.

Communication with the Earth: To communicate and control our rover once it has landed on the Moon, we use high frequency X-band radio waves. These waves are much higher frequency than the waves used by FM radio, so they wouldn't be scrabbled together with the radio waves. Since it only takes 1.3 seconds for radio or light signals to travel from the Earth to the Moon, we can control our rover with ease from a comfy room on our home planet. The rover picks up the radio waves using an antenna stationed on top of it's body. All of the rover's movements are controlled from our base on the Earth.

Lunar Night: In order to withstand a lunar night and win an additional 5 million, we will turn off most of the the rover's vital organs; those that cannot withstand the frigid lunar night temperatures. During the Lunar night we will have no communication with the rover to conserve power. As soon as the rover detects the first glimmer of sunlight shinning down upon it, the rover automatically begins turning on all of it's organs. Within a few minutes all of the systems will be completely powered up and the rover will send a signal to the Earth, confirming it's survival.
    Temperature Controls: To control the temperature of the rover while it's on the Moon and help it survive the frigid temperatures of a Lunar night, we have resorted to several different methods. The temperature of the Moon ranges from 123°C, which is past the regular boiling point, to -233°C, which is colder than any recorded temperature on Earth. Without the following temperature control systems, the rover couldn't survive on the Moon for very long.


rover
  • The first temperature control for the rover is coating it with gold paint. The paint greatly helps prevent heat escape and cold air from entering the rover.
  • The second temperature control is insulation. This is quite a common way to keep heat in, but it is still effective. To insulate the rover, we are using aerogel. Aerogel is a silicon-based substance that is 99.8% air, making it extremely light. Even though Aerogel not very dense, it's great at trapping heat and that's all we need it to do.
  • The third temperature control is using heaters. The rover is heated by excess heat from the electronics and small heaters positioned throughout the rover.
  • Another temperature control is thermostats and heat switches. These regulate the temperature by switching the heaters on and off based on the temperature of the rover. Using the thermostats and heat switches ensures that the rover doesn't overheat.
    • Wheels: The rover will have a total of six wheels. The front two and back two wheels have their own individual motors, which allows the rover to turn a full 360 degrees in place. In order to be able to roam on various terrains and stay balanced, the rover can rock back and forth and and tilt to different sides by and moving the wheels up and down. The top speed of the rover is approximately 30 km per hour. At this speed, it will take about 7 to 8 days to roam more than 5,000 meters and receive one of the 5 million dollar bonuses.

    Camera: The camera is attached to the rover with a meter tall mast. This gives the camera a greater field of view. The camera is able to turn 360 degrees. Video taken by this camera is sent in to the Earth by the radio antenna on top of the rover where it can be viewed in real-time on the Lunar X-Prize website. All camera movement is controlled by the X-Prize crew.    		 camera
    On-Board Computer: Enclosed inside the rover body lies the computer processor of the rover. This computer allows communication interface between the Earth and the rover. Commands transmitted by radio waves and received by the rover's antenna are processed in the rover's computer, then carried out. Without the computer, the rover couldn't carry out any commands. Also, live video from the camera is streamed through the computer, then sent to the Earth by radio waves. The computer on the rover is no larger than a medium sized laptop and slightly resembles one as well. Also, the on-board computer periodically checks the rover's temperature and key instruments for proper operation, to make sure nothing goes wrong. [19]