@inproceedings{MulsowHuelsenGuetzlaffetal.2023,
  author    = {Mulsow, Niklas A. and H{\"u}lsen, Benjamin and G{\"u}tzlaff, Joel and Spies, Leon and Bresser, Andreas and Dabrowski, Adam and Czupalla, Markus and Kirchner, Frank},
  title     = {Concept and design of an autonomous micro rover for long term lunar exploration},
  series = {Proceedings of the 74th International Astronautical Congress},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 74th International Astronautical Congress},
  publisher = {dfki},
  address   = {Saarbr{\"u}cken},
  pages     = {13 Seiten},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Research on robotic lunar exploration has seen a broad revival, especially since the Google Lunar X-Prize increasingly brought private endeavors into play. This development is supported by national agencies with the aim of enabling long-term lunar infrastructure for in-situ operations and the establishment of a moon village. One challenge for effective exploration missions is developing a compact and lightweight robotic rover to reduce launch costs and open the possibility for secondary payload options. Existing micro rovers for exploration missions are clearly limited by their design for one day of sunlight and their low level of autonomy. For expanding the potential mission applications and range of use, an extension of lifetime could be reached by surviving the lunar night and providing a higher level of autonomy. To address this objective, the paper presents a system design concept for a lightweight micro rover with long-term mission duration capabilities, derived from a multi-day lunar mission scenario at equatorial regions. Technical solution approaches are described, analyzed, and evaluated, with emphasis put on the harmonization of hardware selection due to a strictly limited budget in dimensions and power.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{HuelsenMulsowDabrowskietal.2023,
  author    = {H{\"u}lsen, Benjamin and Mulsow, Niklas A. and Dabrowski, Adam and Brinkmann, Wiebke and G{\"u}tzlaff, Joel and Spies, Leon and Czupalla, Markus and Kirchner, Frank},
  title     = {Towards an autonomous micro rover with night survivability for lunar exploration},
  series = {Proceedings of the 74th International Astronautical Congress},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 74th International Astronautical Congress},
  publisher = {dfki},
  pages     = {12 Seiten},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {In Europe, efforts are underway to develop key technologies that can be used to explore the Moon and to exploit the resources available. This includes technologies for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), facilitating the possibility of a future Moon Village. The Moon is the next step for humans and robots to exploit the use of available resources for longer term missions, but also for further exploration of the solar system. A challenge for effective exploration missions is to achieve a compact and lightweight robot to reduce launch costs and open up the possibility of secondary payload options. Current micro rover concepts are primarily designed to last for one day of solar illumination and show a low level of autonomy. Extending the lifetime of the system by enabling survival of the lunar night and implementing a high level of autonomy will significantly increase potential mission applications and the operational range. As a reference mission, the deployment of a micro rover in the equatorial region of the Moon is being considered. An overview of mission parameters and a detailed example mission sequence is given in this paper. The mission parameters are based on an in-depth study of current space agency roadmaps, scientific goals, and upcoming flight opportunities. Furthermore, concepts of the ongoing international micro rover developments are analyzed along with technology solutions identified for survival of lunar nights and a high system autonomy. The results provide a basis of a concise requirements set-up to allow dedicated system developments and qualification measures in the future.},
  language  = {en}
}