General Integrated Science Year 11

Unit 2
Semester 3 2017
Term 2 5% of Year Assessment Semester/Year

Teacher Mrs Morritt Assessment Task 15

Planetary Rovers

Assessment Task 15 Design Brief

Research Robotic Rovers Involved in Exploring Inhospitable Terrains.

Theme: Research and Infographic about Planetary Rovers

Each student must produce an Infographic, based on the Black-Box model.
Show how the characteristics of the environment and the tasks performed by planetary rovers
inform the design of the rover.

This image shows two test versions and one flight spare of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. From left, the featured rovers are: The full-scale test version of the
Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on Mars in 2004; the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which
landed on Mars in 1997; and a full-scale test version of the Curiosity Mars rover, which landed on Mars in August
2012. The rovers are seen in JPL's Mars Yard testing area. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/images/activities/rover_family.jpg

RESEARCH / DOCUMENTATION
Your Infographic should describe the input as the characteristics of the environment that the rover
is working in. The output should be the tasks performed by the planetary rover. The centre of the
Infographic should show the design of the rover and have labels and notes to explain how the
rover overcomes the challenges of the environment and performs the tasks required.

MATERIALS: Laptop with software such as SketchUp to build your infographic.

Paper, pens, ruler if you choose to produce the Infographic by hand.

Link to the Jet Propulsion/ NASA website; https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/planetary-pasta-rover/

and the JPL website on Robotics Systems https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/systems/index.cfm
PROCESSES: Research by visiting the Robotics Systems website, review at least three robotic
rovers. Choose ONE Rover to present as your Infographic.

CRITERIA: Criteria for the Research and Infographic

Produce an Infographic that;
a. Describes at least three challenging characteristics of the environment that the rover
is working in.
b. Describes at least three tasks performed by the planetary rover.
c. Includes a diagram of the Rover and an explanation of how the Rover is designed to
overcome the challenges and perform the tasks.

TIMELINE: Infographic due after two lessons. One lesson for research, notes and planning the
Infographic. One lesson for finalising the Infographic and handing it in.

PRESENTATION:
Form Design Teams of two to three students. Present and explain your Infographic to each other.
From this discussion choose a terrain and rover to adapt. The Design Team will design and build
Planetary Rover using only pasta. This will form Physics Assessment Task 16. Watch this
space

Background
The Mars rovers Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity have collectively driven over 75 kilometres
on Mars. Some days a rover may drive less than one metre, or not at all. Other days may see
the rover drive over 100 metres. The engineers who plan the drives, called Rover Planners,
must define their criteria for successwhat the rover must do for the drive to be considered
a success. They must also take into consideration the constraints that may limit the rovers
ability to successfully complete a drive. What obstacles are in the way? Is there a slope
along the way? Is it too steep for the rover to safely drive? Does the terrain change part way
through the drive?

Some of these things depend on which part of Mars the rover is driving through. Some are
based on how the rover was built. Like Rover Planners, students in this activity will have to
define what a successful drive will look like and identify the limiting factors they will face on
their drive.

Vocabulary
Rovers - machines that drive, either by human or robotic control, on planetary surfaces.