Design and Development of a Martian Assistant Rover for Astronaut Safety During Surface Exploration

The exploration of extraterrestrial environments pertaining to the Moon-Mars expedition poses substantial challenges for astronauts, including extended periods of isolation, physical strain, and exposure to hazardous conditions. Considering this, development of integrated robotic systems that ensure human safety and enable maximum science and exploration during Martian missions is vital for optimal mission executions.In this paper, we propose to develop a rover assistant specifically designed for supporting the initial astronaut exploration of Mars. The primary objective of this rover is to provide assistance in diverse exploration activities and experimental endeavors, all while prioritizing the safety of the expedition team. The mission concept involves the utilization of a transportation rover to reach a specified destination. Subsequently, astronauts will be accompanied by an assistant rover to conduct site exploration. The human explorers will focus their investigations on the relatively accessible and safe regions, while the rover will traverse the more complex and hazardous terrains.As the knowledge of the red planet deepens, it is becoming apparent that many high value science targets are either craters, caves, steep hills or valleys, locations inaccessible to the conventional rocker bogie mobility systems. This paper presents a novel rover design featuring a modified hybrid mobility system. The proposed design incorporates a hexapod configuration adapted from the hybrid rover ATHLETE, modified to create a mobility system suitable for autonomous exploration. The rover will also house a vine robot for exploration of caves, crevices and deep holes which are practically inaccessible or dangerous for the rover. The front-mounted camera of the vine robot will have the capability to explore these locations in infrared wavelength for ice detection. The rover has various exploration instruments on-board which will play a vital role in gathering data for scientific research and informed decision-making, thereby enabling its automation. It employs machine vision algorithms and real-time image processing for its autonomous navigation. The rover payload contains equipment designed to offer medical support, supplementary resources, physical assistance for medical emergencies or extended exploration missions. As a part of the health monitoring architecture for this concept, the rover employs AI algorithms to analyze the data, promptly detect anomalies or health risks, and send timely alerts to the Martian surface outpost.The paper outlines the mechanical design of this rover concept and the algorithm techniques for its autonomous navigation. It also discusses the technical and operational parameters that include the subsystems, functionality, and communication system of this Martian assistant rover. The findings of this study will establish a foundation for future research. It will contribute to the advancement of long-duration space exploration for future manned missions to celestial bodies beyond our solar system.