The remarkable success of ISRO’ s Chandrayaan-3 mission has garnered widespread acclaim, capturing the collective pride of the nation. In this historic venture, the contributions of the team from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham have played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of India’s Lunar exploration endeavours. The dedicated team included Dr.Ganesha Udupa(Professor & Director, Center for E-Mobility, Bengaluru) as Project Incharge, and Dr. Ganesh Sundaram (Assoc Professor and Chairman, Department of Physics, Amritapuri) Dr. Pramod S (Assoc Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amritapuri) as Co-project Incharges. Before the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2013, the Amrita team had the privilege of collaborating on a project titled Study & Simulation of Landing Dynamics of Lunar Soft Lander funded by ISRO under the scheme of Respond Project Programme which received some grant.
The primary objective of the project was to comprehend the soft-landing dynamics of a model of the lunar module that needed to land safely after the four engines are turned off – the final, yet an important, stage of the lunar mission. The team successfully provided them a set of equations which can be used to simulate the soft-landing using scientific computing platforms like MATLAB, rather rely on only complete multibody simulation software like ADAMS. Within the given time, the team was able to provide initial versions of a framework for simulation using MATLAB, allowing for precise control over various parameters and visualization of results.
The project involved designing a CAD model of the lunar lander using SolidWorks. This model underwent rigorous testing for kinematics and dynamics by simulating its free fall using ADAMS software, with further verification through MATLAB. The lander’s design incorporated honeycomb shock absorbers in the primary struts, rigid secondary struts, and a sophisticated foot-pad system, making it a complex multibody dynamics problem. Amrita team have also built a scaled down physical model of the lander and tested its stability of landing and impact force on the footpad at different heights on a slant surface of various slopes.
This groundbreaking research was made possible through the support of the Indian Space Research Organisation Respond Project grant ISRO/RES/3/624/13-14. The Amrita team expressed their gratitude to Amma, for her constant inspiration and guidance throughout the project. Earlier during Chandrayan-2 mission, Amma gave them guidance of providing shock absorber in all the four main legs including the support legs and in all the four-foot pads during design and simulation of the lander and suggested in creating lunar environment for testing the lander before launching was well received and implemented by ISRO for the success of Chandrayan -3 mission.
The team extends heartiest congratulations to ISRO Chairman Dr. S Somanath and the entire ISRO team for their historic achievement of Chandryan-3 mission. They also acknowledge former ISRO Chairman Sri K. Sivan and Sri P Ratnakara Rao, Deputy director, VSSC for visiting Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and inaugurating Amrita-ISRO laboratory as well as the VSSC research team for numerous technical discussions pertaining to the project.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham takes immense pride in the dedicated efforts of the team through their groundbreaking projects supported by ISRO’s Respond Project grant, marking a significant chapter in India’s lunar exploration endeavors.
