Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
Mar 14 2006, 12:29 AM
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#1
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 90 Joined: 13-January 05 Member No.: 143 |
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just heard that there is a serious problem with Spirit's right front drive actuator after yestersol's drive. (This is the actuator that had high currents in the past and led to the backward-driving strategy.) It will take awhile to evaluate the situation, but early speculation is grim.
In a worst-case scenario, they can still drag the bum wheel along, but don't expect another summit view. Best-case scenario would be a rock or debris jammed in the wheel. This is a heads-up, sorry I can't really give more info at this time. I still thought you all would like to know. |
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Mar 14 2006, 05:53 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 688 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Sweden Member No.: 273 |
Design lesson for future rovers: there should be some simple and reliable mechanism for unclutching a wheel once it is certain that it is inoperable and cannot be recovered. Some kind of pyro mechanism perhaps?
tty |
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Mar 15 2006, 01:06 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1636 Joined: 9-May 05 From: Lima, Peru Member No.: 385 |
Design lesson for future rovers: there should be some simple and reliable mechanism for unclutching a wheel once it is certain that it is inoperable and cannot be recovered. Some kind of pyro mechanism perhaps? tty Once time, one of the wheels of my truck was stuck by a small stone (between the brake and wheel) and it started to noise awfully. The only way to get rid off the small stone from the wheel was to use a long screwdriver and hammer. What might be done with MER? As MER goes very slow and I don't think that any small stone would stuck any wheel and the most probably ones would be of dust, grain or sand. The use of any kind of shaking with pyro or anything else is not a good design. The best ones would be the wheels have a very tight seal that neither a water or powder can filter into it. On the other hand, the rover wheel has smaller circunference and its 5 kilometers is like 1,000 km for a off road truck with its big tires (I don't exactly compare the cicunference distance). After that distance, a truck need a chasis wash to flush off the dust and other dirty things and some lubrications in their joints. The MER ones has no such service for more than two years. That is Amen! Rodolfo |
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