Design and Simulation of a Polar Mobile Robot

Abstract

This paper describes the design and simulation of a mobile robot for missions in polar regions. The robot was designed to provide mobility, power, precise positioning and environmental protection for a bistatic synthetic aperture radar for polar regions to measure ice thickness and other ice sheet characteristics. The robot is required to carry and protect the radar system and to tow a large antenna, while providing precise positioning of the antenna to the accuracy of within a few centimeters. In parallel to the design and fabrication of an actual robot, a simulation model of the robot was designed and a virtual prototype was built to perform numerous experiments without the need for actual deployment in polar regions. These experiments tested robot characteristics such as slopes in the terrain, rolling effects, turning radii, antenna attachments, and payload distribution.