The tensegrital wheel will benefit future NASA planetary exploration missions by enhancing the mobility and controllability of surface exploration rovers. Potential missions of interest include surface missions to Mars and the Moon. The ability of the tensegrital wheel to better conform to the terrain and its inherent capacity to evenly distribute reaction loads through its structure would result in measurable improvements in in-soil traversability, obstacle climbing, stability, and response to dynamic events. The tesnegrital wheel affords significant advantages over existing wheel systems for planetary rovers. While the structural design of existing wheel systems provides compliance approximating that of a pneumatic tire, such compliance is fixed by the design. Because if the high payload-supporting capacity, very low ground pressure, and scalability this wheel design opens up a number of possibilities in planetary vehicle design and mission capabilities.
Tensegrital wheels could be applied in a variety of vehicles and field machinery in mining, design, construction, farming, and utility industries. What makes the tensegrital wheel a promising option is its adjustable compliance, great payload ratio, low-ground pressure, and scalability. Many military vehicles currently use active control of tire air pressure to adjust compliance of the tires and deal with deflation due to punctures. As with planetary rover systems, using the tensegrity wheel for this application negates the need for pumps, pneumatic lines and pneumatic rotary joints. No pneumatic tire means no risk of puncture. In addition, the tensegrital wheel offers a lightweight alternative to unconventional wheel designs such as Michelin�s TWEEL�. Farm and industrial vehicles can find application for the tensegrital wheel as well. A tractor, for instance, might negotiate cross slopes more safely and effectively by selectively adjusting the compliance of the wheels so that the uphill wheels are more compliant than the downhill wheels providing a measure of center-of-gravity control. Likewise the pose of industrial vehicles such as manlifts can be provided with additional control through the use of the tensegrital wheel technology.
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