We've been busy these past weeks designing the initial rover body of Octanis 1. The team had especially many discussions on the design of the wheel. Since we have to traverse snow and ice, sometimes slushy and wet, we need high traction and a big surface area. That's what made us go with these designs:

[caption id="attachment_19" align="alignnone" width="340"] latest revision[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21" align="alignnone" width="268"] revision 1 [inside is missing][/caption]

We yet have to print and test the latest revision wheel design, but comparing it to our initial design we like it much better. We removed a lot of material from the inside and outside of the wheel and could reduce mass by 20%.

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[caption id="attachment_24" align="alignnone" width="300"] Rocker-bogie system - User:Maxxl2 on Wikipedia[/caption]

The rover uses the rocker-bogie system, which allows it to traverse a "rocky" terrain, just like mars rovers. It will have six wheels, each powered by a 3RPM DC motor. The two outer wheels can be turned to manipulate direction. Everything put together looks like this:

[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignnone" width="300"] The rover design: gold = thermal insulation, blue = solar panels[/caption]

Now we need to test this design rigorously, which also means building a real-world model and testing it's performance. I am especially interested in how wind resistant this design is, concepted as an "upside down airfoil".

All designs are online and can be downloaded from our GitHub repositories: https://github.com/Octanis1/Octanis1-CAD