Planar Trajectory Simulation for Lunar CanSats using a Wheeled Ground Robot

This research effort attempted to employ a low cost Kobuki mobile ground robot to generate low-fidelity planar simulations of potential trajectories for CanSats operating in lunar environments. Although this mobile robot was determined to lack the capability to simulate lunar accelerations, initial tests showed that simple planar trajectories could still be successfully programmed for the motion platform. By attaching the prototype CanSats to the top of the Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV), the CanSat could be driven along these preprogramed trajectories. Such motion profiles provided an adequate means for initial testing of prototype optical hardware for a lunar oriented CanSat lander. Notably, significant inconsistencies were observed in the internally computed heading for the AGV. In addition to the inaccurate localization, the lack of a closed loop control system further minimized the applicability of this study. However, due to the ubiquitousness of wheeled robotic ground vehicles and the ready availability of these devices from commercial sellers at an affordable cost, there are many possible avenues for future expansion of this work. Most significantly, as systems capable of simulating microgravity environments are often very costly and require special training to operate effectively, the proposed low-cost and low-fidelity approach could provide an interim testing solution for less technologically mature space-oriented research, such as CanSats.