Summary
This paper presents A3P5 NEMESIS, a four-wheel rover designed to perform environmental observation, remote inspection, and light robotic sampling all on one platform. The authors developed a detailed design and tested models for how the rover moves and carries loads, including how much torque its wheels can produce and when it might tip forward. They also created a benchmark for calibrating environmental sensors using large datasets, though it does not tell how accurate the rover's own sensors are. Overall, this work creates a clear design and testing framework, but the rover's real-world performance still needs to be evaluated.
What this means in practice
- •For environmental monitoring teams: Assess and enhance mobile robots for collecting environmental data and samples with a validated mechanical design and sensor calibration approach.
- •For robotic system engineers: Use the integrated design and reproducible mobility analysis to develop multifunctional rovers combining inspection, observation, and manipulation.
Abstract
A3P5 NEMESIS is a four-wheel rover intended to combine remote inspection, environmental observation and lightweight manipulation within one serviceable platform. This study develops a photo-constrained geometric reconstruction, a subsystem architecture and a reproducible analytical assessment while distinguishing physical prototype evidence from proposed functions. An exploratory search retrieved 5,000 bibliographic records across ten queries, yielding 4,897 distinct DOI records and 1,212 metadata candidates; selected primary studies and technical documents informed the design. The reconstructed configuration retains the carbon-pattern enclosure, independently steered wheel assemblies, folded manipulator, inclined camera mast and side sampling equipment. A declared 24 kg scenario predicts 3.28 newton-metres of gearbox-output torque per wheel on a 20-degree grade under equal load sharing; a separate static model shows how a 2 kg forward payload reduces the geometric front-tipping bound from 38.1 degrees to 32.7 degrees. These are design screens, not measured operating limits. A public-data calibration benchmark uses 7,344 eligible hourly observations, eight sensor/environmental predictors and chronological training, validation and test partitions. Validation-selected ridge regression achieves a held-out CO root-mean-square error of 0.502 milligrams per cubic metre, with a 95% daily-block bootstrap interval of 0.435-0.569 milligrams per cubic metre. This result concerns an external sensor array and cannot establish NEMESIS accuracy. The combined analysis identifies priority measurements, proposed control interfaces and mission-specific validation requirements. The contribution is a traceable engineering design study and evaluation framework for a prototype whose integrated field performance remains to be established.