A Long Distance Polar Rover with Multifunctional Wind Energy Unit

Aimed at making full use of the Antarctic renewable wind energy, this paper presents a long distance polar rover installed a multifunctional wind energy unit. The multifunctional wind energy unit integrates the wind power driving and wind power generation, which can convert the force acting on the unit caused by the wind energy into the rover’s driving force and the wind power at the same time. Meanwhile, assisted by the track diving subsystem, the polar rover can change the rover’s motion direction and cross the obstacle. The track diving subsystem can move back and forth, which can change the center of mass of the rover and improve the mobility of the polar rover. Furthermore, on the basis of the aerodynamics and mechanics theory, the motion performance and automatic reset capability of the polar rover was investigated.