Publication

Abstract : As all expeditions on moon are of great importance and people are more curious to know more and more about it, a lunar module is required to carry instruments safely to lunar surface. The lunar module has to be landed on its legs and with minimal shock on all kinds of surface after being dropped from a height, be it a hard or soft surface. So simulations and experiments on lunar landers are indispensable for a successful launch. Based on a model of the lunar lander, a CAD model was designed using SolidWorks and was tested for kinematics, dynamics by simulating its free fall using ADAMS. With the insight gained, a scaled physical model of the lander was fabricated with two-wheeler rear wheel spring-dampers in primary struts and packaging foam in footpads as cost-effective shock absorbing mechanisms. With a focus on impact forces on footpads, being one of the most important parameters, interfacing Arduino-UNO-Wifi-board with load cells a force measurement and wireless data acquisition system was developed, calibrated and incorporated into the footpads. Drop test experiments and simulations were carried out for different drop heights and angles of landing surface and the impact forces on the footpads and soil penetration depths were measured, and a basic shock and energy analysis was carried out. Our results indicate that shocks are within limits up to a certain height and landings are stable for the anticipated landing surface angles for the chosen model parameters and surface conditions.