Soft-landing dynamics of a type of four-legged space lander

Abstract

Analyzing the landing dynamics response is essential for enhancing the success rate of surface explorations on celestial bodies like Mars, the moon, and asteroids. This paper develops a comprehensive dynamics model for a space lander equipped with four sets of buffer legs. Each set comprises a primary strut, two secondary struts, and a footpad. The compression force of the buffer struts is determined through interpolation of real experimental data, while the contact force between the footpad and the ground is calculated using Archimedes law for granular media. The Lagrange equation of the second kind is employed to construct the dynamical model for the lander with minimal degrees of freedom. The proposed dynamics model is validated through experiments involving touchdowns of a single legged lander and a four legged lander. Moreover, key physical quantities such as the buffer force, energy absorption and body acceleration are computed for both 1-2-1 and 2-2 landing configurations. The results indicate that the buffer strut is capable of absorbing approximately half of the impact energy, leading to a 50-fold reduction in the shock acceleration of the main body in both landing configurations. However, it is observed that the maximum compression of the buffer strut is greater in the 1-2-1 landing configuration than in the 2-2 landing configuration. Furthermore, these simulations can be completed within seconds, enabling extensive simulations for the design and optimization of soft landing processes.