Lunar Rover Initiative Design Home Page

Technology List

This list is intended to reflect the primary configuration and design decisions facing the design team. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list of rover technologies. If a decision is made or the solution seems obvious, the technology would then be removed from the list or moved to a footnote. A companion list in the future would be a repository of all decisions and design.

[Legend: *:pick if decide today, +:preferred tech choice, ~:viable]

1. Imagery
   • Compression (need 150:1) {*~JPEG (40:1), +MPEG}
   • Panaromic {+~Panospheric, *~camera ring}
   • Hi-def shots {~Multilens, ~Pan-tilt w zoom, *~hi-def w filters}
   • CCDs {not a problem - which one?}
   
   
2. Power
   • Electric (need 300W): {*~solar, +Kr85}
   • Storage & conditioning: {+NiMH, ~AgZn, *~Super NiCd}
   • Night heat {*~Kr85, ~RHU, battery}
   
   
3. Range sensor
   • Proximity: {+~capaciflector, focus}
   • Med range (can act as proximity): {+~Radar, ~Ladar, ~stereo, ~light striping}
   
   
4. Comm (Moon->Earth 6 Mb/s)
   • Technology: {+*~Phased array S-band, ~Parabolic Ku-band, optical}
   • License: {~S-band, Ku-band}
   
   
5. Computing
   • CPU
     • +COTS: {*~R3081, R4000, +R8000}
     • ~Rad-hard: {~R3000, ~i860, ~i960, ~RS6000}
   • Controller: {CPU list + bigger list - not a problem}
   • Cage/Bus: {*~VME-MESUR, +~VME-compact, ~custom-spacebus};
   
   
6. Locomotion
   • Actuator: {~Honeywell, Allied, Schaeffer magnetics}
   • bearing/lube:
   • Seals: