On the 10th, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled the transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot (TIGER) through the Hyundai Motor Group’s official YouTube channel. Tiger can easily navigate rough terrain using four robotic legs and wheels. The Hyundai Motor Group said that Tiger will be able to transport goods or collect scientific experiment data by moving around the jungle or the ice-covered poles, or even the lunar surface. Imagine a tiger moving on the surface of the moon. Provided by Hyundai Motor Group
The competition with Toyota’s lunar probe’Luna Cruiser’ was formed when Hyundai Motor Group released the’TIGER X-1′, an unmanned intelligent mobile robot that can run on the surface of the moon. A fierce war between Korea and Japan is expected in line with the space development plans of both countries.
‘Tiger’, unveiled by Hyundai Motor Group on the 10th, is an unmanned robot that can freely move the uneven surface using four robotic legs and wheels.
As it is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) on the basis of unmanned operation, various missions are possible in places where human access is difficult. Hyundai Motor Group cited examples of the use of’Tiger’, such as supplying goods by emergency personnel to rescue emergency patients in remote areas, delivery of goods to remote areas, and various scientific explorations.
Tiger adopts a modular platform, so you can install equipment that suits your purpose. In particular, in the case of scientific exploration, if a sensor for collecting various scientific data is installed, in the long run, he was confident that it would be possible to collect scientific data instead of humans from the moon or other planets.
It means that it can play the same role as the’Personality’, a Mars ground exploration rover launched by NASA.
If Hyundai Motor Group’s Tiger is a robot with a concept that combines unmanned four-legged walking and four-wheel drive, Toyota’s’Luna Cruiser’ is a six-wheeled lunar probe that two astronauts ride directly. Toyota decided to develop the Luna Cruiser by 2030 in partnership with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Toyota’s lunar probe, Luna Cruiser. Toyota offer
Toyota has revealed that the 6090mm Luna Cruiser is powered by huge solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells.
It is different from the concept-level Tiger who has not yet revealed what energy source it will consume in space.
The Luna Cruiser is also equipped with an autonomous driving function. The Luna Cruiser reaches the moon before astronauts and secures a safe landing point.
However, unlike Tiger, the Luna Cruiser consists of only six wheels, so it seems that it has a relatively weak point in moving rough terrain such as craters on the moon’s surface.
As Tiger and Luna Cruiser each have their strengths and weaknesses, the competition between the two companies for lunar exploration ultimately depends on the pace of progress in each country’s space development strategy. In that respect, Japan is far ahead of our government.
Japan is using the H2A rocket developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch its own satellites as well as satellites from third countries such as the UAE on behalf of commercially. In 2023 it will be replaced by the successor H3
Japan had already launched the first asteroid probe Hayabusa 1 in 2003 to collect soil samples from Itokawa, a silicon asteroid, and returned to Earth in 2013. Hayabusa 2 collected soil samples from the asteroid Ryugu last December It began flying 10 billion kilometers in 11 years to explore the asteroid.
In addition, Akihiko Hoshide, an astronaut belonging to JAXA, was named as four astronauts to be carried to the International Space Station (ISS) by Space X, a private space company led by Elon Musk, in April this year.
The Korean government recently finalized the space development plan, including a related budget of 615 billion won. It plans to successfully launch the Korean launch vehicle’Nuri’ in October and launch a Korean lunar orbiter in August next year.