At approximately 30-40 seconds into the video, Team leader Palle Haastrup says: "Today, I am going to report on the lastest layout of our own spacecraft: Vomit, as we call it." Apparently in Denmark, the "r" in English is pronounced like a "v", so it makes for a funny translation!
Romit is very interesting. Like the EuRoCa from Team Selene, it is a rocket car. But unlike the EuRoCa, which uses solid rocket fuel, Romit uses a liquid rocket fuel.
I personally do not think your wheels will work. When using a propellant, "hovering" time is very expensive. In effect, by going slow, you are expending fuel very inefficiently, as if you were hovering. Therefore, unlike with an electric car, you will want to get from point to point in quick movements.
Wheels will dig into the regolith and slow you down, maybe even flip you over. If you do use wheels, they should be larger, free-turning wheels, with wider treads than your thin treads.
Conceptually, for a quick moving vehicle, rather than thinking of wheels on land, you want to think of "snow". If your rocket car will work well on very powerdery dry snow, it will probably work well on the moon. You want think more on the lines of a snow sled than a car. To steer, you can use a rudder at the rear (it sinks into the regolith), or you can use front skis like a snowmobile uses.
It will be very useful to be able to turn the Romit in a spot by a mechanical means, without using any thrust. This way you can point it where you want it to go before you give it a burst of propulsion. This will help to prevent flipping and manuevering problems. You should also be able to right the Romit in case it falls over.
Imagine the Romit with a corkscrew spiral around it. This will cause the Romit to spin in the regolith as it moves. But if the bottom is smooth, the Romit (if on its back) will turn until it meets the smooth bottom. This way you can always right your rover by propulsion without using a mechanical aid. (Although a mechanical aid would be nice too, especially if it can double as a robot arm.)
Vomit??
At approximately 30-40 seconds into the video, Team leader Palle Haastrup says: "Today, I am going to report on the lastest layout of our own spacecraft: Vomit, as we call it." Apparently in Denmark, the "r" in English is pronounced like a "v", so it makes for a funny translation!
Romit is very interesting. Like the EuRoCa from Team Selene, it is a rocket car. But unlike the EuRoCa, which uses solid rocket fuel, Romit uses a liquid rocket fuel.
I personally do not think your wheels will work. When using a propellant, "hovering" time is very expensive. In effect, by going slow, you are expending fuel very inefficiently, as if you were hovering. Therefore, unlike with an electric car, you will want to get from point to point in quick movements.
Wheels will dig into the regolith and slow you down, maybe even flip you over. If you do use wheels, they should be larger, free-turning wheels, with wider treads than your thin treads.
Conceptually, for a quick moving vehicle, rather than thinking of wheels on land, you want to think of "snow". If your rocket car will work well on very powerdery dry snow, it will probably work well on the moon. You want think more on the lines of a snow sled than a car. To steer, you can use a rudder at the rear (it sinks into the regolith), or you can use front skis like a snowmobile uses.
It will be very useful to be able to turn the Romit in a spot by a mechanical means, without using any thrust. This way you can point it where you want it to go before you give it a burst of propulsion. This will help to prevent flipping and manuevering problems. You should also be able to right the Romit in case it falls over.
Imagine the Romit with a corkscrew spiral around it. This will cause the Romit to spin in the regolith as it moves. But if the bottom is smooth, the Romit (if on its back) will turn until it meets the smooth bottom. This way you can always right your rover by propulsion without using a mechanical aid. (Although a mechanical aid would be nice too, especially if it can double as a robot arm.)
Great video, Palle! That was
Great video, Palle! That was really nice--I'm sure our fans will appreciated it.