
The Structural design of the WRV1 lunar rover consists of two identical parts, the front and the back, that are connected by a steering unit. The steering unit is responsible for "bending" the body of the rover allowing it to turn to the right or left. This provides a very clever steering solution because it is more robust than steering by rotating the wheels. It's simpler to build and has fewer potential points of failure.
Next question is where and how to mount the necessary control and payload electronics? One obvious solution would be to distribute the electronics between the two body parts and do it carefully in order to avoid too large mass difference between the front and the back. However, a more interesting option is to simply put the same electronics in both parts so that each part is fully functional on its own, but they can still work together as a "team". This way, we achieve full redundancy against any single-point failure both mechanical and electrical – maybe except the mechanical part of the steering unit! And as you can see on the proposed electrical architecture diagram below, it doesn't even have to be complicated:
When fully functional, this design would provide a quite awesome driving experience, in that you could follow both the front and the rear camera at the same time. If something breaks, we still have a functional equipment set in the other part of the rover that is able to complete the mission, potentially using whatever is still functional in the other part – if a camera breaks, you can still use all four motors for traction but only one camera; if a motor breaks, you can still drive with two motors and use both cameras.
It is going to be fun to drive this rover!