[Roadam]

Originally Posted by GAHD

The diamagnetic casing of the wheel itself should repel ANY ambient magnetic fields(that's what it does) so ASSumption moon dust would repel from it.

If I am getting this right diamagnetic material repels from magnetic fields. So moondust wouldnt repel becouse it is feromagnetic and not permagnetic.

Very good design really. Although diamagnetic repelling is still quite expeerimental in this case. Also bismuth is quite dense and heavy compared to aluminium. Alternatively levitation could be made with two pairs of magnetic rings facing each other. One pair at each side of the motor casing.

[DougF]

I was looking for off the shelf parts for our rover and found this artical and thought it was a good idea, I don't think we would get stuck with this type of setup. check the link what do you think.


Planetary rovers

Planetary Rovers Might Roam Better
with an Elastic Loop Mobility System

For the Lunar Rover Vehicles on Project Apollo, NASA developed a wire mesh wheel that would not go flat. Working on improved designs, Costes revived Kitchens' idea with an interesting variation.

The variation developed by Costes (working in cooperation with the late W. Trautwein, then of Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.) raised the main wheels, added a load wheel next to each main wheel, and used modern materials to make a stiffer, more robust track. This turned the track into a spring that elevated the vehicle and let rocks and dirt fall off before they could jam the main wheels.

The new design also spread the vehicle's load over a larger area, giving the vehicle better traction in a smaller package than it could get with wheels.

The drawing at right depicts the basic design of the ELMS. A working vehicle could be much longer with little change in this outline. Links to 640x350-pixel, 32K GIF. Credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center.

Tests on simulated lunar soil at the U.S. Army's Waterways Experiment Station showed that the loop wheel, as they sometimes called it, performed better than the Lunar Rover wheels. Loop wheel vehicles could climb 35-degree slopes, compared to an 18-degree maximum for the Lunar Rover, and could climb obstacles twice as large as those of conventional treaded vehicles. The quality of the ride was improved, too.The Apollo program ended before the ELMS could be applied to later rovers. In 1972, Martin Marietta, the prime contractor for the Viking Mars landers, rediscovered the ELMS. At the urging of the director of NASA's Langley Research Center (which managed Viking), Costes started developing concepts so a Viking Mars lander could roam. The first two Mars landers were already in development, but managers at Langley hoped that a proposed Viking '79 (right) might be fitted to move. That was never funded, either.

GAHD: I'll help where I can.