Abstract: Aiming at the overturning risk caused by the low stability of a Mars rover in an unstructured environment, an optimization control method for the stability margin of a six-wheeled Mars rover with active suspension is proposed. Firstly, considering the relationships of slip and roll between wheels and contact ground during the suspension mechanism adjusting, the kinematics model of the six-wheeled Mars rover with active suspension in an unstructured environment is established and perfected. Then, taking the angles of angle adjustment mechanisms of the Mars rover as the variables, the stability margin model of the Mars rover is obtained. After that, the interior point method is used to solve the optimal solution of the stability margin of the Mars rover, and the desired angles of the angle adjustment mechanisms are obtained. On this basis, the angles of the angle adjusting mechanisms are planned and controlled, and the configuration of the Mars rover is adjusted, so as to improve the stability margin of the Mars rover in the unstructured environment. Finally, the effectiveness of the stability margin control strategy of the Mars rover is verified by simulation. The results show that the proposed control method can effectively improve the stability margin of a Mars rover in an unstructured environment.

Key words:  Mars rover, Active suspension, Kinematics, Stability margin, Unstructured environment