Pittsburgh has hundreds of acres of slag, since slag was a by-product of the steel-making days. Slag isn't regolith, but its barren, granular suface is a big step up from testing on soil and weeds.
I'm actually liking your rover more and more. It's going to be cool to see it on the moon. But your wheels are a little small. You are at a real disadvantage. Your rover will move in a pudly fashion. If it gets stuck the wheels will dig holes. Go to the beach. Small tires don't work. What you want is mechanically expansible tires with extensible legs, so that the tires can be extended beyond the body of the rover without raising the rover's center of mass. Katycorner extension is preferable to increase the wheel base as well. A number of designs are possible for a mechanically expansible tire, which is the mechanical analog of inflation. This enables the tire to be stowed way, with the extensible legs retracted. A simple design consists of overlapping plates, which form the tread, each plate being supported by a piston attached to the hub, such that the pistons are actuated and locked into place either by charges or solenoids. This gives you the advantage of big tires and a large wheel base, without the disadvantage of raising the center of mass or taking up space when unneeded. Time to jump some moon dunes!
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Needs bigger tires
I'm actually liking your rover more and more. It's going to be cool to see it on the moon. But your wheels are a little small. You are at a real disadvantage. Your rover will move in a pudly fashion. If it gets stuck the wheels will dig holes. Go to the beach. Small tires don't work. What you want is mechanically expansible tires with extensible legs, so that the tires can be extended beyond the body of the rover without raising the rover's center of mass. Katycorner extension is preferable to increase the wheel base as well. A number of designs are possible for a mechanically expansible tire, which is the mechanical analog of inflation. This enables the tire to be stowed way, with the extensible legs retracted. A simple design consists of overlapping plates, which form the tread, each plate being supported by a piston attached to the hub, such that the pistons are actuated and locked into place either by charges or solenoids. This gives you the advantage of big tires and a large wheel base, without the disadvantage of raising the center of mass or taking up space when unneeded. Time to jump some moon dunes!
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