Virtual simulation technology is of great importance for the teleoperation of lunar rovers during the exploration phase, as well as the design of locomotion systems, performance evaluation, and control strategy verification during the R&D phase. The currently used simulation methods for lunar rovers have several disadvantages such as poor fidelity for wheel-soil interaction mechanics, difficulty in simulating rough terrains, and high complexity making it difficult to realize mobility control in simulation systems. This paper presents an approach for the construction of a virtual simulation system that integrates the features of 3D modeling, wheel-soil interaction mechanics, dynamics analysis, mobility control, and visualization for lunar rovers. Wheel-soil interaction experiments are carried out to test the forces and moments acted on a lunar rover’s wheel by the soil with a vertical load of 80 N and slip ratios of 0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6. The experimental results are referenced in order to set the parameters’ values for the PAC2002 tire model of the ADAMS/Tire module. In addition, the rough lunar terrain is simulated with 3DS Max software after analyzing its characteristics, and a data-transfer program is developed with Matlab to simulate the 3D reappearance of a lunar environment in ADAMS. The 3D model of a lunar rover is developed by using Pro/E software and is then imported into ADAMS. Finally, a virtual simulation system for lunar rovers is developed. A path-following control strategy based on slip compensation for a six-wheeled lunar rover prototype is researched. The controller is implemented by using Matlab/Simulink to carry out joint simulations with ADAMS. The designed virtual lunar rover could follow the planned path on a rough terrain. This paper can also provide a reference scheme for virtual simulation and performance analysis of rovers moving on rough lunar terrains.
In order to obtain a new-type short cylindrical cup-shaped flexspline that can be applied to space mechanisms,the APDL language of ANSYS software was employed to develop a parameterized equivalent contact model between a flexspline and a wave generator. The validity of the parameterized equivalent contact model was verified by comparing the results of the analytic value of the contact model and the value calculated by the theoretical formula. The curvilinear trend of stress was obtained by changing the structural parameter of the flexspline. Based on the curvilinear trend of stress,multi-objective optimizations of key structural parameters were achieved. Flexspline,wave generator,and circular spline of a new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer were designed and manufactured. A performance test bench to carry out tests on the harmonic reducer was designed. Contrast experiments were implemented to determine the efficiency of the new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer and the conventional 32-type harmonic reducer under different conditions. The experimental results reveal that there is approximately equality in terms of efficiency between the new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer and the conventional 32-type harmonic reducer. The volume of the flexspline of the new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer is reduced by approximately 30% through multi-objective optimization. When the new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer is used on the wheel of a rover prototype,the mass of the wheel hub is decreased by 0.42 kg. Test analysis of wheel motion verifies that the new 32-type short cylindrical cup-shaped harmonic reducer can meet the requirements regarding bearing capacity and efficiency.
