Electromagnetic damping asteroid landing cushioning mechanism and dynamic simulation analysis.

• A leg-type asteroid probe landing cushioning device is proposed based on electromagnetic damping. • The vertical landing speed and landing tilt angle will affect the cushioning characteristics. • The horizontal movement direction and the landing tilt direction have a coupling effect on the landing dynamics. • Soft landing media will cause the footpad to collide and bounce on the surface, thereby increasing the cushioning time. In-situ scientific exploration is of great significance to asteroid exploration, and resource development and utilization. The asteroid surface landing cushioning is the basis of in-situ scientific exploration of asteroids. Therefore, a leg-type asteroid landing cushioning device is proposed based on the principle of electromagnetic damping. A dynamic simulation model is used to study the cushioning dynamics of the cushioning device in a microgravity environment. For the proposed landing cushioning device, the simulation investigates the influence of vertical landing speed and landing vertical tilt angle on the dynamic characteristics and landing stability. The dynamics simulation method is also adopted to investigate the influence of the landing horizontal tilt angle and the horizontal movement direction on the landing stability of the three-legged asteroid probe. The horizontal movement direction and the landing horizontal tilt angle have a coupling effect on the landing cushioning dynamics. Finally, based on the developed simulation device of asteroid microgravity environment, landing cushioning experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of soft and hard landing media on the cushioning process and verify the feasibility of the landing cushioning device. The comparison and analysis of the experimental results and the simulation results verify the accuracy of the landing cushioning dynamics simulation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]