Bachelor's Thesis at DLR: A Rover for a Moon Simulation

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is Germany's research and technology center for aerospace and is headquartered in Cologne. In this interview, Jan Wiedmann and Felipe Rude from the Media Design program talk about their experience working on their joint bachelor’s thesis. 

Kathrin Wöhrle: How did it come about that you did your bachelor’s thesis at the DLR?

Felipe Rude: Duringmy internship semester, I worked in another team at the DLR to redesign a tablet interface for a wheelchair equipped with an autonomous robotic arm that assists people with disabilities in their daily lives. My advisor at DLR, Tilo Wüsthoff, then told me about the rover project, and I started it together with Jan.

Kathrin: What exactly was your project about, and what were your responsibilities?

Felipe: AtDLR, there’s the LUNA TRP team, which is building a rover for the Luna Hall in Cologne to test how such a rover would function in space on the Moon and interact with astronauts. To control the rover, you need a program—an interface. We designed and developed a prototype for this. The goal was to ensure that the rover is equipped with five cameras, that its handling and controls work well, and that general parameters—including temperature, power, and movement—can be monitored.  

Jan Wiedmann: Theinteresting thing is that, at the beginning, we were actually only supposed to design the interface—that is, the program’s appearance—classic UX and UI design. We were actually supposed to test the interface using an existing simulation of the rover. But because that simulation wasn’t available to us in time due to an internal staff change, we had to develop the simulation ourselves. That was a leap of faith for us. In the end, though, it also allowed us to conduct a user study.

Kathrin: What is the Luna Hall?

Jan: TheLuna Hall opened two years ago in Cologne. It’s the most advanced lunar surface simulation facility in the world. There, you can simulate the Moon—its gravity, surface, lighting conditions, and even the fine dust.

Kathrin: You already had quite a bit of prior knowledge from your studies and the internship semester. What was new to you?

Jan: Forme, there weren’t really any new topics I had to get up to speed on right away. The project was just significantly larger. Thanks to my user experience design coursework and the internship semester, I was able to apply a lot of what I’d learned, but in a more complex context.

Felipe:It was similarforme with interface development. The simulation was especially new—I had to familiarize myself with Unreal Engine. I had the basics down, but I had to dive much deeper.

Kathrin: How did you go about the technical implementation of the simulation?

Felipe: Basically, we’re trying to technically recreate reality. To do that, we imported the 3D model of the rover and set it up so that its individual parts could move realistically. In doing so, you have to make sure that the joints are defined correctly and that the range of motion is limited in a sensible way. In the end, the individual joints and actuators can be controlled directly via code. 

Jan: In addition, we modeled the entire environment ourselves to simulate the rover’s behavior in that environment as realistically as possible. That wasn’t easy at all, because it’s difficult to find other simulations of this kind that we could use as a reference.

Kathrin: So what was the focus of your user study in the end?

Felipe: Thequestion was which control method is best: game controller, mouse and keyboard, or joystick.

Jan: Together withour advisor Tilo, we organized a test with three rover operators. They tested the different control methods in our simulation. The clear result of our study: The joystick is the easiest and most intuitive way to control the rover. 

Kathrin: Now that your project is finished, What will happen to the rover? 

Felipe: For now, it’s strictly a ground-based project and will be housed in the Luna Hall. Other research groups will be able to use the rover to test their systems. 

Jan: What makes this rover special is that it’s designed for collaboration between the rover and astronauts. Of course, that’s a major risk factor for the astronauts. If you imagine a rover weighing nearly 300 kilograms driving toward an astronaut on the Moon, the controls have to be just right—otherwise, it could get really dangerous. 

Kathrin: What have you personally taken away from the project?

Felipe: When you break a project down into small steps and discuss them in weekly meetings, you stay in the flow. That was a big lesson for me—not to wait until the pressure is on to start working.

Jan: I’ve realized that I really enjoyed the technical aspects, too, and that it’s worthwhile to work directly with companies or research institutions on real-world projects. 

Kathrin: What are your next steps?

Jan: I’mcurrently looking into which direction to take and which university to attend for my master’s degree. I’d also like to incorporate the technical aspect into my studies. I could also definitely see myself joining the DLR later on.

Felipe: I’dlike to wait until the summer semester to start my master’s and use the next six months to work on my own project.

Kathrin: Many students are hesitant to write their thesis in collaboration with a company or research institution. What advice would you give them?

Jan: Many peoplethink the barriers to entry—for example, to do a project like this at the DLR—are huge. But basically, you can just apply like you normally would. Of course, it’s often easier to get in through contacts—that’s how we did it. 

Felipe:Anotheradvantageis that you have a bachelor’s degree contract and get paid for your work. Many people don’t even consider that. So don’t be afraid to do your thesis in collaboration with a company or a research institution.