Design of lunar micro robot
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Date
2026-02-25
Authors
Στράτης, Φίλιππος
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Abstract
This thesis presents the design, integration, and simulation-based validation of a lunar microrover system with total mass not exceeding 8 kg. The central research hypothesis is thataggressive mass reduction — achieved through lightweight aluminum construction and asimplified four-wheel direct-drive locomotion system — can be offset by sophisticated autonomous navigation, allowing a sub-10 kg platform to conduct meaningful surface exploration without the mechanical robustness of heavier, conventional designs. The work addresses three interconnected design challenges: a mechanical architecture that fits within a6U CubeSat deployment envelope (340×226×100 mm); an electronics and power system that sustains multiple 2.5-hour exploration sorties through a return-to-lander charging strategy;and a ROS2-based software stack integrating SLAM, visual odometry, terrain analysis, and autonomous path planning. The final design achieves a total mass of 6.1 kg (with 15 %margin), well within the 8 kg target, and demonstrates 85–90 % autonomous navigation success rates in simulation. Key contributions include parametric terramechanics analysis validating wheel geometry against Bekker-theory soil models, an iterative CAD design study quantifying chassis mass evolution, and a documented integration methodology resolving more than 70 distinct software integration challenges in the ROS2 navigation stack. The work explicitly characterizes the boundary between what simulation can validate and what requires future hardware testing on lunar regolith simulant.
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Keywords
Lunar rover, Micro rover, Autonomous navigation, Terramechanics