OSCAR MARSKIN: LEVERAGING SOFT ROBOTICS FOR ENHANCED MARS EXPLORATION MISSIONS

Abstract

Future planetary robots designed for Mars-like environments must maintain mobility while enduring harsh conditions such as abrasive regolith, dust accumulation, and severe thermal fluctuations. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and prototype evaluation of MARSKIN, a multilayer environmental skin developed for integration with OSCAR, a modular origami crawling robot. The primary objective is to enhance environmental survivability without compromising the flexibility, modularity, and sensing capabilities essential for confined-space robotic exploration. The skin architecture comprises various materials, including TPU, EcoFlex silicone, aerogel, PETG-PTFE, aluminum, and a superhydrophobic outer coating. Each layer is strategically selected to fulfill specific structural or environmental functions such as thermal insulation, adhesion, mechanical support, partial shielding, and surface protection. A circular prototype was initially fabricated for subsystem-level validation, which was later adapted into a rectangular geometry tailored for OSCAR. Incorporating a sensing subsystem featuring a TMP117 temperature sensor, an infrared temperature sensor, and a day/night livestream camera supported testing and future exploration tasks. Experimental evaluations were conducted under Mars-inspired laboratory conditions, employing heat-plate and heat-lamp testing, freezer exposure, repeated thermal cycling, and dust and abrasion assessments. The results demonstrated that the full multilayer stack achieved superior thermal buffering performance, exhibiting significant through-thickness temperature differentials under both conductive and radiative heating, as well as delayed temperature equilibration during cold exposure. Notably, the thermal functionality remained consistent across repeated hot-cold cycles. Dust and abrasion tests revealed that the outer TPU and superhydrophobic coating effectively reduced dust adhesion and resisted abrasive contact, although localized dust accumulation occurred in exposed EcoFlex regions. Overall, the findings indicate that a multilayer environmental skin can substantially enhance the environmental robustness of a small crawling robot while preserving its modular sensing potential and future Mars-inspired locomotion capabilities.