ROL NEWS--Mars Lander Challenge for Rocket Hobbyists

actually I enjoy many types of music but most classical is off the list for me. too much I IV V ionian stuff, bleah.

FRS radios I would guess.

a spotter acting as "satellite" radioing to the controller which way to drive the cars.

you can get these $15 a pair and cheaper now adays.

I am thinking fully radio control.

earth conditions on the scale we are using are much more forgiving than mars. I can let a lightly protected ball smack into the ground without much concern for damaging anything inside.

the trick is the same nasa has. Getting it to "open up"

I was thinking apollo capsule shape with a triplet of chutes for stability and a pin release so when it hits the ground the chutes will release and hopefully blow away enough to prevent then from interfering with the opening of the capsule.

I was then thinking DRIVE the rover out and when it hits the side of the inside of the capsule it would force it to "open up" and let the rover out. the fast traxx type vehicle is pretty wide so stability should not be an issue and designed right I could make it worked inverted or right side up. two pegs on the rear wheels will insure the million to one odds of it landing on its "side" will not get it stuck :-)

Maybe even have the pin mechanism holding the chute ALSO hold the lander doors shut when the chutes release the latch releases and springs or rubber bands that are tight would not OPEN the lander.

but this screams for things to fail :-) so I might take the easier route on that issue.

the trick is desiging it so it can not land upside down OR having a way to invert it if it does land upside down (the lander)

I was thinking long dowels that would swing out and up so that is it lands less than flat it would tend to want to stay topside up. will have to see how it works out. how big the whole mess ends up being since I want to keep if F powers and under. the F25 is a really nice motor for this (can you even get that motor nowadays ??) F21 might work depending on how heavy it comes out.

the lander itself will be light. figure all foam with a few light ply parts where strength or a hinge point is needed.

I will shave down and thin every non critical part of the RC car since I will want some "gear" on it. Camera to see with and an articulated arm to "do" stuff with etc..

I was even thinking having TWO landers. one that would open up and have a rocket ready to fly. the first lander would "retrieve" something interesting from the planetary surface STICK it in the return rocket and then remotely or using the lander remotely as the finger pusher LAUNCH this rocket as if it was a Earth Return Vehicle to bring the sample back.

that would be really cool !!!

Maybe you could do it with two radio control receivers on the same frequency... use a four channel transmitter, one receiver in the rover with motor control and steering servos, and another in the lander shell with one or two servos (which would be plugged into the other two channels of the second receiver) for opening the lander - and perhaps for turning it upright. (Imagine a lander pod with legs like the well-known "Mars Lander" models, but folded forward along the side... after touchdown, they would extend until they were sticking straight out, which would force the pod upright... this could be a separate servo, or, with suitable linkages, it could be part of a combined opening sequence, like unfolding an umbrella.)

The lander servo(s) might be the "winch" type as used on RC sailboats - these could draw in lines which would activate the unfolding. With a 4 channel airplane style transmitter, you could put the rover on the channels for the "rudder/throttle" stick, and use one of the channels on the "elevator/aileron" stick to open the lander.

(Just thinking out loud about what could be done with off-the-shelf RC stuff...)

-dave w