Event Location: GHC 2109
Bio: Hiroaki Inotsume is a M.S. student in the Robotics Institute, advised by Prof. David Wettergreen. His work focuses on analysis of vehicle-terrain interactions for design, motion planning, and control of planetary rovers. He received his B.E. and M.E. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Tohoku University in Japan.

Abstract: Because of great successes of the JPL’s Mars Rovers, future planetary
exploration rovers are expected to probe more scientifically
fascinating areas traversing sand dunes, flank of mountains, and/or
crater rims which are covered with loose soil. In such areas, wheels
of a rover will lose their traction resulting in high slip and
sinkage, or deviations from planned paths. It has been acknowledged
that wheel tread patterns, called grousers, have an important role to
improve traveling capability of vehicles. However, any comprehensive
design guidelines of grousers for Lunar/Mars vehicles have not been
developed. This talk will present a fundamental grouser design
equation that our research group has developed from observations of
visualized soil flow under wheels. We have conducted hundreds of
experiments of wheels with grousers in various longitudinal and
lateral slip conditions. In this presentation, some latest results
will be shown, and guidelines for grouser design will be provided for
different operating conditions.