Tecnomare

Mechanisms that operate at very low temperatures

Project Funding:
ESA
Project Coordination:
Tecnomare, Italy
Project Partners:
Selex Galileo, TNO, Magnomatic
Duration:
48 months

The aim of this work is to develop mech­an­isms tech­no­lo­gies that would enable exist­ing mech­an­isms designs for Rover/Landers to oper­ate at “cold” temper­at­ures in the Martian atmo­spheric and dust envir­on­ment. It is a Robotic Exploration Technology Plan activ­ity from ESA performed within the MREP (Mars Robotic Exploration Preparation) programme.

Output of this project should be a complete drive train consist­ing of a motor, a Harmonic Drive ® gear, a plan­et­ary gear and an output bear­ing work­ing in Martian envir­on­ment (temper­at­ure range: from +5 °C down to -80 °C, pres­sure: 10 – 20 mbar).