PROJECT TITLE :

The Kapvik Robotic Mast: An Innovative Onboard Robotic Arm for Planetary Exploration Rovers

ABSTRACT:

Planetary rovers have played significant roles in exploring potential landing sites on Mars and therefore the moon, and they can continue to figure united of the foremost effective tools for future planetary missions. Sample acquisition for on-site analysis and potential return to earth is one among the most challenging and promising missions for planetary exploration. The Kapvik microRover is a sensible, reconfigurable all-terrain multimission microRover prototype that was developed to deal with the challenges of planetary exploration and sample acquisition. The Kapvik microRover consists of a mobile platform, an onboard robotic mast, and a range of scientific sensors. This article presents the development of the Kapvik robotic mast, which combines a robotic arm and microRover mast, delivering both of their functions. Particularly, the innovative robotic mast will perform sample acquisition and transfer for storage plus assist the microRover in navigation and inspection. To satisfy the stowage necessities and offer triangular support for the navigation cameras, a completely unique locking mechanism and associated management techniques are designed to enable self-locking and unlocking of the robotic mast. A prototype has been developed for the Canadian House Agency, and intensive experiments are conducted to validate the proposed style.