Rover Sojourner
Mechanical, Thermal and Mobility Subsystem
(MTM)
A small 11-kilogram rover will journey to Mars aboard the Mars Pathfinder Mission. Its primary mission is to perform technology, science and engineering experiments on the Martian surface.
The MFEX Rover is based on the Rocker-Bogie suspension system developed at JPL in the late 1980's. This six wheeled platform is the key to the fantastic mobility achieved by the Rover.
As the Rover is a mobile robot, its two primary subsystems are mobility and control. The Mechanical, Thermal and Mobility Subsystem (MTM) is responsible for:
- the physical configuration of the vehicle
- the mobility/suspension design
- the mechanisms and actuators which drive and steer the wheels
- the structures which hold the rover to the lander
- the mechanisms which release the rover from the lander
- the structures which support all electronics and payloads
- keeping all electronics and payloads within their safe operating ranges