Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
On the surface of the Moon, mobile robots (i.e., rovers) are required to travel in vacuum and experience extreme low and high temperatures. Thus, for developing lunar rovers, the survivability and performance of the rovers' components should be evaluated in an environment simulated the above target situation. To this end, this paper investigates a characteristics of a motor in a simulated lunar thermal vacuum condition. For this investigation, a thermal vacuum test system was first developed. In this system, a motor located inside a vacuum chamber is controlled from outside the chamber, and motor's speed, current, and torque are measured in various load conditions. Subsequently, two kinds of motor tests were proposed and conducted using this system. In a test, a motor was tested in different operation temperatures. In the other test, the motor was tested in thermal cycles, in which the motor was first stored in a low temperature and subsequently operated after heated. Here, operation and storage temperatures were determined based on the lunar thermal conditions. The test results suggest that the motor can be stored and have almost constant speed, torque, and thermal performances under the simulated lunar environment. This study confirms the thermal characteristics of an indispensable component for lunar exploration and enhanced its reliability.
内容記述
形態: カラー図版あり
内容記述(英)
Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations