Solar power for an Antarctic rover
Abstract Sensors mounted on mobile robots could serve a variety of science missions in Antarctica. Although weather conditions can be harsh, Antarctic snowfields offer unique conditions to facilitate long‐distance robot deployment: the absence of obstacles, firm snow with high albedo, and 24 h sunli...
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crwiley:10.1002/hyp.6121 2024-06-02T07:58:32+00:00 Solar power for an Antarctic rover Lever, J. H. Ray, L. R. Streeter, A. Price, A. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6121 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.6121 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.6121 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Hydrological Processes volume 20, issue 4, page 629-644 ISSN 0885-6087 1099-1085 journal-article 2006 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6121 2024-05-03T10:38:51Z Abstract Sensors mounted on mobile robots could serve a variety of science missions in Antarctica. Although weather conditions can be harsh, Antarctic snowfields offer unique conditions to facilitate long‐distance robot deployment: the absence of obstacles, firm snow with high albedo, and 24 h sunlight during the summer. We have developed a four‐wheel‐drive, solar‐powered rover that capitalizes on these advantages. Analyses and field measurements confirm that solar power reflected from Antarctic snow contributes 30–40% of the power available to a robot consisting of a five‐side box of solar panels. Mobility analyses indicate that the 80 kg rover can move at 0·8 m s −1 during clear sky conditions on firm snow into a 5 m s −1 headwind, twice the speed needed to achieve the design target of 500 km in 2 weeks. Local winter tests of the chassis demonstrated good grade‐climbing ability and lower than predicted rolling resistance. Tests of the completed robot occurred in Greenland in 2005. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland Wiley Online Library Antarctic Greenland Hydrological Processes 20 4 629 644 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
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English |
description |
Abstract Sensors mounted on mobile robots could serve a variety of science missions in Antarctica. Although weather conditions can be harsh, Antarctic snowfields offer unique conditions to facilitate long‐distance robot deployment: the absence of obstacles, firm snow with high albedo, and 24 h sunlight during the summer. We have developed a four‐wheel‐drive, solar‐powered rover that capitalizes on these advantages. Analyses and field measurements confirm that solar power reflected from Antarctic snow contributes 30–40% of the power available to a robot consisting of a five‐side box of solar panels. Mobility analyses indicate that the 80 kg rover can move at 0·8 m s −1 during clear sky conditions on firm snow into a 5 m s −1 headwind, twice the speed needed to achieve the design target of 500 km in 2 weeks. Local winter tests of the chassis demonstrated good grade‐climbing ability and lower than predicted rolling resistance. Tests of the completed robot occurred in Greenland in 2005. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lever, J. H. Ray, L. R. Streeter, A. Price, A. |
spellingShingle |
Lever, J. H. Ray, L. R. Streeter, A. Price, A. Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
author_facet |
Lever, J. H. Ray, L. R. Streeter, A. Price, A. |
author_sort |
Lever, J. H. |
title |
Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
title_short |
Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
title_full |
Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
title_fullStr |
Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
title_full_unstemmed |
Solar power for an Antarctic rover |
title_sort |
solar power for an antarctic rover |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6121 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.6121 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.6121 |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland |
op_source |
Hydrological Processes volume 20, issue 4, page 629-644 ISSN 0885-6087 1099-1085 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6121 |
container_title |
Hydrological Processes |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
629 |
op_container_end_page |
644 |
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1800741909098921984 |