Meet Bridget...

[GenesForLife]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Hot Rods of the Gods!"

[Feck]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

[GenesForLife]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

Apparently NASA are getting involved and the final rover will borrow heavily from the Curiosity Rover. Whether that design has suspension or not I do not know.

[klr]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

Seeing as Martian gravity is only .38 g, the shock isn't nearly as great as it might seem to us Earthlings.

[Animavore]

Oh! It's actually quite big. I thought it was just a small thing 'til someone walked by the camera.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

Seeing as Martian gravity is only .38 g, the shock isn't nearly as great as it might seem to us Earthlings.

I'd weight 103 pounds.

[GenesForLife]

Oh! It's actually quite big. I thought it was just a small thing 'til someone walked by the camera.

[mistermack]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

Maybe organic compounds like rubber are unsuitable to take to Mars? They have to be very careful about sterilisation.
Most normal rubber would be rock hard at Martian temperatures anyway, but maybe they could develop a special nylon or plastic.
Steel springs could be lighter than the equivalent rubber, given the conditions. But damping would add weight I guess.

[Jason]

It quite obviously needs a very powerful laser or ray gun of some sort, perhaps a particle accelerator. To defend itself from martians and transformers.

[Feck]

Take some metal out of the wheels make them have a bit of 'give' ? and yep I did think that under lower G it might not be as significant .

[GenesForLife]

Needs some shock absorbers , They have got the independent wheels and that keeps it level ,but it's never going to last it given the shocks I saw on that video when a single wheel drops after an obstacle , If they don't have the weight allowance available to use shocks and springs then maybe soft rubber bushes between suspension components or some Tyres ?

Maybe organic compounds like rubber are unsuitable to take to Mars? They have to be very careful about sterilisation.
Most normal rubber would be rock hard at Martian temperatures anyway, but maybe they could develop a special nylon or plastic.
Steel springs could be lighter than the equivalent rubber, given the conditions. But damping would add weight I guess.

They're apparently ok with around 900 kg for the final rover. Bridget is like 180 odd kg.

[mistermack]

They're apparently ok with around 900 kg for the final rover. Bridget is like 180 odd kg.

Wow. That's a lot.
I'd like to know how they land something that weight on Mars.
Even with 0.4 g it's going to take a lot of slowing down, because of the speed necessary to get it there in a reasonable time.