The defective tests on the ground may explain the reason for the suspension of Rovers NASA on Mars

In the spring of 2019, the six -wheeled SPIRIT ROOR company was leading back to withdraw an non -operating front wheel when it stumbled on the surface of the sandy Mars. Although the months are eliminated in an attempt to drill her robot, NASA could not freedom. Now, engineers from the University of Wisconsin – Madison have discovered a way to better prepare NASA robots for environments outside the planet.

in paper Posted in Journal of Field Robotics, The Engineers team used computer simulations to detect a missing element in the way NASA tests on the ground. Instead of just calculating the effect of gravity on the initial models that are tested on the ground, engineers who are behind the recent study indicate that NASA has ignored the gravity of gravity on the sand itself.

Gravity on Mars is much weaker than Earth. To calculate the difference in gravity between Mars and the Earth, NASA tests a lightweight preliminary model of Mars preservatives, which is about the sixth mass of robots sent to the Red Planet. However, the recent simulations revealed that the gravity of the Earth is receiving the sand with a much greater force than Mars or the moon. As a result, the sand on Earth is more solid and less likely to shift under the wheels of the rover, while it tends to be more amazing on the moon.

“We need to think not only about gravity on gravity, but also the effect of gravity on the sand statement.

The team behind the study stumbled on a missing piece of the puzzle while simulating the NASA snake, or the volatility achieved in the polarity, which was We are supposed to go to the moon this year Before canceling its mission. While simulating VIPER, engineers noticed a difference between the ground tests of the initial model ROOR and the physics -based simulation of the four -wheeled robot on the moon.

The new results indicate that Rovers on the terrain outside the planet, such as the moon or Mars, is likely to struggle to put its wheels in the less complex sand. There may be something like that not only for the soul but also for the NASA Rover opportunity, which spent Related weeks in the sand in 2005And the curiosity that happened She stumbled in soft terrain in 2014. By looking at how sand behaves under the lighter gravity of other worlds, NASA can better prepare its robots for harsh terrain.