Design and Implementation of Integrated Control System for Mars Rover Mechanism

Abstract

Spacecraft servo mechanisms are generally driven separately，and are controlled and monitored by ground tele-operation. The servo mechanisms of Mars rover have many functions such as movement，suspension adjustment，communication antenna pointing，solar wing orientation，mast rotation，etc. The Mars rover is equipped with numerous motors and sensors. The traditional design cannot meet the requirements of integration，autonomy and fault-tolerant control for the Mars rover. In this paper，the overall structure of the integrated control system for the Mars rover mechanism is optimized. The strategy of hardware resource reuse and computing resource reuse is adopted to achieve the goal of integration. Autonomous management functions are realized for motion planning，control operation，etc. The design requirements of fault-tolerant control are met through the functions of fault detection，emergency treatment and degraded control. For the application of the Mars rover mechanism control system，all specifications are optimized in compliance with many constraints. The validity and rationality of the method is verified，providing reference for the mechanism control systems of space explorer with complex functions and strict constraints.

Keywords

Mars rover / mechanism control / integration design / autonomy / fault-tolerant control