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WRV1 Wheel Hubs

Jörg has now finished manufacturing four wheel hubs for the WRV1 rover prototype. For reference, I have also included the blueprint that has been posted earlier. Personally, I am very impressed by seeing the real thing look like on the specifications - I wish we could do the same in the software world ;-)


From WRV1: Wheeled Rover Vehicle 1




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Cool!

You know I originally thought you were actually doing an erector set rover. By now I realize that was just the prototype for something fancier! Those wheels look sharp. But now that I look at the design, I have a skeptical eyebrow raised over the supporting wires: Is thermal expansion in the extremes of temperature going to be a problem for the spokes? You might need a different weave of the spokes, one that is more sinusoidal and less linear in its curvature.

Thermal expansion

Indeed, the erector set was a conceptual prototype to illustrate the flexible body concept that is already used for large industrial and agricultural vehicles.

I asked Jörg about the thermal expansion and he said that the design of the wheel and the spokes is not critical for thermal expansion and that the choice of material was made having extreme temperatures in mind.

At the end, thorough thermal-vacuum testing is inevitable for confirming the right choice of materials and electronics before launching the craft.