Planetary Project Vehicle

This project investigates the design of a safe and efficient surface transportation system for four human astronauts on Teegarden’s Star b.

Due to the planet’s unique atmospheric, gravitational, and geological conditions, surface travel presents significant challenges that differ from those on Earth, including rocky terrain, uncertain atmospheric properties, radiation exposure, and reduced or altered gravity.

The objective of this project is to design and test a prototype vehicle capable of transporting four astronauts continuously over a distance of 10 km while prioritizing safety, stability, and energy efficiency. To evaluate the feasibility of the design, a simulated testing environment will model crucial differences that only exist on Teegarden’s Star B such as uneven terrain, wind forces, and environmental hazards. The effectiveness of the vehicle will be assessed by its ability to navigate obstacles, protect occupants, and maintain reliable movement under these conditions. This project mainly aims to demonstrate how engineering design can address extraterrestrial mobility challenges through repetitive testing and problem solving.

Teegarden’s Star b is one of the closest known exoplanets that may support conditions suitable for life, making it a compelling target for future human exploration. While remote observation can provide valuable data about a planet’s atmosphere and composition, meaningful exploration requires astronauts to physically travel across its surface. Surface mobility is essential for collecting samples, surveying terrain, searching for potential life forms, and establishing communication or infrastructure beyond a landing site.

Unlike Earth, Teegarden’s Star b is expected to have environmental conditions that pose serious challenges to human travel. Differences in gravity, uncertain atmospheric properties, rugged geological features, and exposure to radiation all create risks that conventional Earth based vehicles are not designed to handle. Without a reliable transportation system, astronauts would be limited in how far they could safely explore, reducing the scientific value of a mission.

This project addresses that challenge by focusing on the design of a vehicle capable of transporting four human astronauts safely and efficiently over long distances on an unfamiliar planetary surface. By identifying key constraints and simulating extreme conditions through controlled testing, this project aims to explore how engineering design can support human exploration beyond Earth.

The primary problem addressed in this project is how to enable four human astronauts to safely and efficiently travel 10 continuous kilometers across the surface of Teegarden’s Star b. Unlike Earth, this exoplanet presents an unknown and potentially hostile environment, making conventional surface transportation methods unreliable and unsafe. A successful solution must balance astronaut safety, vehicle stability, and energy efficiency while operating under extreme and uncertain conditions.

One major issue is the planet’s unique environmental conditions, including rocky and uneven terrain, steep elevation changes, and the presence of large boulders and ravines. These geological features increase the risk of vehicle instability, tipping, or mechanical failure. As a result, the transportation system must be capable of maintaining traction, balance, and structural integrity while navigating unpredictable surfaces.

Another critical challenge involves atmospheric and gravitational differences. Teegarden’s Star b may possess a thin or unstable atmosphere and a gravitational pull different from Earth’s, both of which can significantly affect vehicle motion and energy consumption. These factors introduce uncertainty in mobility control, braking, and power efficiency, requiring a design that can adapt to altered physical conditions.

Astronaut safety is also a central concern. Potential exposure to radiation, extreme temperatures, dust or debris, and mechanical impact poses serious risks to human occupants. Therefore, the vehicle must incorporate protective materials, shock absorption, and shielding mechanisms to minimize harm during travel.

Finally, the issue of efficiency and reliability must be addressed. The vehicle is required to complete the 10 km distance using limited energy resources while remaining operational throughout the journey.

To address the challenges identified in the problem definition, this project proposes a hybrid planetary rover designed to transport four human astronauts safely and efficiently across the surface of Teegarden’s Star b. The vehicle concept prioritizes stability, adaptability, and occupant protection while maintaining efficient movement over long distances and uneven terrain.

The vehicle is designed with a low profile, preferably reinforced body structure to reduce the risk of tipping when navigating rocky terrain, steep inclines, and uneven surfaces. A wider base and evenly distributed mass help improve balance and traction, which are critical for maintaining control under altered gravitational conditions. The body panels are shaped to deflect debris and reduce direct impact from environmental hazards.

For mobility, the vehicle incorporates a wheel based movement system supported by deployable articulated legs. The wheels allow for energy efficient travel across relatively flat terrain, while the legs can be deployed to overcome large obstacles, boulders, or elevation changes that wheels alone may not handle effectively. This hybrid approach increases the vehicle’s versatility and reduces the likelihood of becoming immobilized.

Energy efficiency is addressed through the use of a compact electric power system designed to support continuous operation over the required 10 km distance. The vehicle minimizes unnecessary mass while maintaining structural strength, allowing energy to be used primarily for locomotion and stability control rather than overcoming excess weight.

Overall, this vehicle design concept combines efficient rolling mobility with adaptive obstacle navigation and protective structural features. By integrating these elements into a single system, the design aims to meet the core project objective: enabling safe, reliable, and efficient human surface exploration on an unfamiliar extraterrestrial planet.

The design process for this project followed an iterative approach rooted in the Define Stage of the engineering design cycle. Initially, the problem of surface transportation on Teegarden’s Star b was framed in broad terms, focusing primarily on safety and efficiency. Early “How might we” questions explored general ideas of astronaut mobility but lacked specific parameters such as distance, environmental constraints, and measurable success criteria.

Through structured feedback and revision, the problem definition evolved to become more precise and testable. Key improvements included defining a continuous travel distance of 10 kilometers, identifying specific environmental challenges such as rocky terrain, altered gravity, and uncertain atmospheric conditions, and explicitly linking these constraints to safety and efficiency requirements. This refinement ensured that the problem was not only clearly understood but also capable of being evaluated through controlled testing.

As the problem became more clearly defined, the team began brainstorming potential vehicle solutions. Early concepts included traditional wheeled rovers, leg based walking systems, and hybrid designs. Purely wheeled vehicles were recognized as energy efficient but limited in their ability to overcome large obstacles, while leg based systems offered greater adaptability but increased mechanical complexity and energy consumption. Based on these ideas, a hybrid mobility concept was selected, combining wheels for efficient travel with deployable legs to assist in navigating uneven terrain and elevation changes.

Design decisions were further guided by identified constraints. The need for astronaut protection influenced the choice of enclosed body structures and layered materials capable of simulating radiation shielding and impact resistance. The requirement for energy efficiency led to a focus on lightweight materials and electric motor systems. Additionally, the necessity of testing in a classroom or laboratory environment shaped the scale of the prototype and the selection of materials that could safely simulate extraterrestrial conditions.

Overall, the design process emphasized clarity, adaptability, and testability. By refining the problem statement, identifying realistic constraints, and evaluating multiple design approaches, the project established a strong foundation for prototype construction, testing, and iterative improvement. This structured decision making process ensured that the final design concept directly addressed the challenges of human surface exploration on an unfamiliar exoplanet (namely Teegarden’s Star B).

To analyze the electrical efficiency of the vehicle, we compared the voltage supplied by the batteries to the voltage effectively delivered to the motors during testing. Each alkaline AA battery provides approximately 1.5 V. Since four batteries were used in series, the total input voltage to the system is:

Equation 1:

During testing, the measured voltage delivered to each motor fluctuated between 0.6 V and 0.9 V. To account for this variation, the average motor voltage is calculated:

Equation 2:

Because the vehicle uses four motors operating simultaneously, the total effective output voltage delivered to the motors is:

Equation 3:

Energy efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful electrical output to the total electrical input. This relationship is expressed as:

Equation 4:

Substituting the calculated values:

Equation 5:

This calculation shows that only 50% of the electrical energy supplied by the batteries was effectively delivered to the motors. The remaining energy was lost within the system. These losses can be attributed to internal resistance in the batteries, heat generated within the motors, resistance in wires and connectors, and inefficiencies caused by complex or unstable wiring.

The Vernier Graph Analysis shows the position of the vehicle over time in both the x-direction (horizontal movement) and y-direction (vertical movement) during the first test. The x-position increases steadily from approximately 320 px to over 820 px within about 4.5 seconds, indicating that the vehicle was able to move forward consistently across the test surface. This suggests that the drive system was functional and capable of producing forward motion on relatively flat terrain.

In contrast, the y-position shows only a small overall increase, rising gradually from around 350 px to approximately 430 px. This limited change indicates that the vehicle experienced minimal vertical displacement, meaning it struggled to climb or navigate elevation changes. The shallow slope of the y-position curve supports observations from the physical test, where the vehicle was unable to travel over larger clay “mountains” or steep obstacles.

The testing phase of this project played a critical role in revealing both the strengths and limitations of the vehicle design. During the initial test, the vehicle successfully demonstrated forward motion on flat terrain, confirming that the basic drive system and power supply were functional. However, the test also exposed several significant issues that directly affected performance and reliability. One major problem was inconsistent steering, as one of the front wheels sporadically turned to the left, causing instability and inefficient movement. Additionally, the vehicle lacked sufficient torque and traction to overcome large clay based obstacles, preventing it from traversing steep or uneven terrain.

To address the lack of terrain adaptability, additional circuits were constructed and deployable legs were designed to help distribute weight and assist with climbing obstacles. This approach demonstrated creative problem-solving and a willingness to modify the original design in response to test data. However, during the final test, the added complexity introduced new challenges. Electrical integration issues prevented the vehicle from moving, despite a measured voltage of approximately 0.99 V, indicating that power was present but not being effectively delivered to the motors.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

Artificial intelligence was used in a limited and as supportive use during this project. Specifically, AI tools were used to assist in creating organized charts for the Bill of Materials and to help refine the structure and clarity of written sections. All ideas, calculations, testing results, analysis, and design decisions were developed by the us. AI was not used to generate experimental data, conduct testing, or make design choices.