Design and Optimization of Landing Buffer Device for Reusable Small Lunar Surface Leaper

In order to address the needs of multi-point repeated landing explorations on the lunar surface in the future, a leg-type reusable small lunar surface leaper was proposed. Firstly, a reusable landing buffer device was designed for the lunar surface leaper, and the basic configuration and repetitive buffering mechanism of the device were introduced. Secondly, a ground impact test system was established to verify the rationality of the design scheme at the working mechanism level. Thirdly, the single leg kinematics model and landing dynamic model of the landing buffer device were established, and the accuracy of the mathematical models was verified via virtual prototype simulation. Finally, with the optimization objective is of reducing the structural load on key parts of the landing buffer device during the landing buffer process, non-dominated sorting generic algorithm with elite strategy was used to optimize the design parameters of the buffer device, and the optimization results were verified by virtual prototype simulation. The research results indicate that the device’s workflow meets expectations, and the optimized design parameters can reduce structural loads of key parts during the landing buffer process by 12.49% and 7.33%, respectively. This can provide reference for the design of future lunar surface leapers.