Abstract
Planetary rovers utilizing legged locomotion are capable of enhanced mobility on uneven lunar surfaces. Yet the non-circular shape of legs intrinsically generates vertical oscillations (Z-hop) and attitude disturbances (roll-pitch) during movement. These dynamic impacts can diminish sensor precision, decrease mechanical reliability, and jeopardize payload stability. Despite these challenges, investigations into gait optimization for quadrupedal micro rovers functioning on lunar simulants are still few. This work details a multi-body simulation analysis of a quadrupedal micro rover, outfitted with three C-Pods on each leg, navigating a flat lunar simulant surface using MATLAB Simulink. We analyze the impact of altering the phase offset between leg rotations by comparing three different phase configurations on the rover’s vertical and angular motion dynamics. Locomotion stability is assessed by the peak-to-peak amplitudes of Z-hop and roll-pitch oscillations as primary performance metrics. Our findings indicate that specific phase alignments, similar to bio-inspired gaits, can significantly diminish vertical bounce and moderate roll-pitch disturbances, thereby reaching an effective balance between the two. This study is the premiere analysis of gait control patterns in a triple C-Pod leg system utilizing multi-body simulation. The results yield novel insights into enhancing legdriven mobility for lunar micro rovers and include practical recommendations for choosing leg phase schedules to ensure smoother and more stable navigation in forthcoming planetary exploration missions.