Design and Experimental Validation of the Separation and Deployment System for the CHERI Lunar Micro-Rovers
Design and Experimental Validation of the Separation and Deployment System for the CHERI Lunar Micro-Rovers
This paper presents the design, optimization, and testing of a non-explosive separation system for the CHERI lunar micro-rovers.
The paper details the design and experimental validation of a non-explosive separation system for 5 kg lunar micro-rovers, noting that early iterations failed vibration testing due to spring jamming and chassis resonance, which were resolved via topology optimization and damping model adjustments.
Source: arXiv Robotics — research abstracts · Read original article ↗
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Publisher-reported claims, with original evidence. These results have not been independently verified by RoboSignal.
Reported numbers
mass budget
1.6
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ngly. Early hardware iterations failed vibration testing, first through spring jamming in the guide housings and then through a 34 Hz fundamental mode of the flat ground plate. A density-based topology optimization raised the fundamental frequency to 84 Hz, above the 70 Hz requirement of the lander, within a 1.6 kg mass budget. The final configuration passed acceptance-level sinusoidal vibration, random vibration, an
Open source S4fundamental frequency
84
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ngly. Early hardware iterations failed vibration testing, first through spring jamming in the guide housings and then through a 34 Hz fundamental mode of the flat ground plate. A density-based topology optimization raised the fundamental frequency to 84 Hz, above the 70 Hz requirement of the lander, within a 1.6 kg mass budget. The final configuration passed acceptance-level sinusoidal vibration, random vibration, an
Open source S4fundamental frequency requirement
70
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ngly. Early hardware iterations failed vibration testing, first through spring jamming in the guide housings and then through a 34 Hz fundamental mode of the flat ground plate. A density-based topology optimization raised the fundamental frequency to 84 Hz, above the 70 Hz requirement of the lander, within a 1.6 kg mass budget. The final configuration passed acceptance-level sinusoidal vibration, random vibration, an
Open source S4vehicle mass
5
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arXiv:2611.02872v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Reliable separation mechanisms are critical for planetary micro-rovers, which must withstand launch vibrations and then eject the vehicle clear of the lander. This paper presents the design, optimization, and testing of the separation system of the CHERI (Challenging Environment Exploration Rovers for Intelligence) lunar micro-rovers. Sized for a 5 kg vehicle, the assem
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- paper: not_reported
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d shock testing without structural degradation. Separation tests with a weight-matched one-sixth mass model, tracked by optical motion capture, confirmed clearance of the lander and reproduced the simulated free flight to within the run-to-run variation of the measured ejection velocity. These tests further showed that landing outcome is dominated by touchdown and settling dynamics, indicating that the residual pitch
Open source S5
arXiv:2611.02872v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Reliable separation mechanisms are critical for planetary micro-rovers, which must withstand launch vibrations and then eject the vehicle clear of the lander. This paper presents the design, optimization, and testing of the separation system of the CHERI (Challenging Environment Exploration Rovers for Intelligence) lunar micro-rovers. Sized for a 5 kg vehicle, the assem
Open source S2
ngly. Early hardware iterations failed vibration testing, first through spring jamming in the guide housings and then through a 34 Hz fundamental mode of the flat ground plate. A density-based topology optimization raised the fundamental frequency to 84 Hz, above the 70 Hz requirement of the lander, within a 1.6 kg mass budget. The final configuration passed acceptance-level sinusoidal vibration, random vibration, an
Open source S4
bly comprises an aluminum ground plate, a central non-explosive hold-down and release mechanism, and an asymmetric four-spring ejection array. Initial separation trials revealed a velocity deficit caused by energy absorption in the flexible wheel-legs and chassis during the ejection stroke. This loss was represented as equivalent chassis damping in a multi-body dynamic model, and the springs were re-optimized accordi
Open source S3
Source：arXiv Robotics — research abstracts · arxiv.org