Configuration and kinematics analysis of locking-releasing mechanism for side-loaded lunar rover

In order to save space for storing precision equipments,lower the center of mass of Lander and reduce lunar rover’s dimension constraint limited by mechanism of Lander,the locking-releasing mechanism of side-loaded lunar rover loaded outside Lander is presented,which is a kind of metamorphic mechanism.To ensure the working of this mechanism as the metamorphic process designed,configuration analysis of the locking-releasing mechanism is carried out,and topological structures are described by Huston lower numbered arrays.A kinematic mathematical model of the mechanism is established through homogeneous transformation matrix.The kinematic simulation validates the feasibility of the locking-releasing mechanism when the configurations are shifted from one to the other.