Rocker-bogie
Suspension design common in space rovers
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Key Takeaways
- The rocker-bogie system is a suspension arrangement invented by NASA engineer Donald B.
- It has been used in the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission robots Spirit and Opportunity , on the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission's rover Curiosity , the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance and ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan in 2023.
- These rockers are connected to each other and the vehicle chassis through a differential.
- The chassis maintains the average pitch angle of both rockers.
- The "bogie" part of the suspension refers to the smaller linkage that pivots to the rocker in the middle and which has a drive wheel at each end.
The rocker-bogie system is a suspension arrangement invented by NASA engineer Donald B. Bickler in 1988 for use in NASA's Mars rover Sojourner, and which has since become NASA's favored design for rovers. It has been used in the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission robots Spirit and Opportunity, on the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission's rover Curiosity, the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance and ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan in 2023.
The "rocker" part of the suspension comes from the rocking aspect of the larger, body-mounted linkage on each side of the rover. These rockers are connected to each other and the vehicle chassis through a differential. Relative to the chassis, the rockers will rotate in opposite directions to maintain approximately equal wheel contact. The chassis maintains the average pitch angle of both rockers. One end of a rocker is fitted with a drive wheel, and the other end is pivoted to the bogie.
The "bogie" part of the suspension refers to the smaller linkage that pivots to the rocker in the middle and which has a drive wheel at each end. Bogies were commonly used as load wheels in the tracks of army tanks as idlers distributing the load over the terrain, and were also quite commonly used in trailers of semi-trailer trucks. Both tanks and semi-trailers now prefer trailing arm suspensions.
On the Sojourner rover the front wheels attach to the bogies, while on the MER and MSL rovers the front wheels attach to the rockers.
Design
The rocker-bogie design is an articulated, passively sprung (unsprung) suspension system that uses split rather than full-width axles. It is intended to maintain contact between all six wheels and uneven terrain while distributing wheel loads through mechanical articulation and load averaging.
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