Design of the body of a martian vehicle for the European Rover Challenge

Abstract

During history, there have been a lot of designing regarding martian rovers. In the following thesis the body of one of those rovers has been designed, meeting the requirements of the European Rover Challenge. Firstly, some of the main components have been described in order to design the body properly. After discussing three ideas regarding the body shape and components distribution; and three possible materials; one is chosen. The body has been designed using a structure profile with a profile substructure and aluminium plates to withstand the weight requirements. Furthermore, aluminium sheets are used to seal the body. In this way, the resulting body is pretty lightweight. In addition, a stress analysis has been performed in order to check if the structure is stiff enough. The results are satisfactory. The usage of prefabricated profiles and their connectors allows designing an affordable product, with a sufficient stiffness and enough quality. There are a lot of possibilities of application of the rover.