Rocker Bogies

[Karim Virani]

. Rewind to the beginning if you want to see the whole thing.

[James H Phelan]

Karim,

Thank you!  As a follower of the NASA/JPL Open Source Rover I'm very partial to the Rocker Bogie and am enjoying the history of it and its inventor!

James H Phelan
"Nihil est sine ratione cur potius sit quam non sit"
Leibniz

On 1/25/2026 6:24 PM, Karim Virani wrote:

. Rewind to the beginning if you want to see the whole thing.

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[Chris]

What a great piece of history.  Thanks for sharing.

This just popped up in Hack a day feed: Papaya Pathfinder: Open Source ESP32 Rover Gallery

https://hackaday.io/project/204911-papaya-pathfinder-open-source-esp32-rover?mc_cid=0cfff59436&mc_eid=f8d00db356

-Chris

[Marco Walther]

On 1/29/26 11:04, Chris wrote:
> What a great piece of history.  Thanks for sharing.
>
> This just popped up in Hack a day feed: Papaya Pathfinder: Open Source
> ESP32 Rover Gallery <https://hackaday.io/project/204911-papaya-
> pathfinder-open-source-esp32-rover>
>

> https://hackaday.io/project/204911-papaya-pathfinder-open-source-esp32-
> rover?mc_cid=0cfff59436&mc_eid=f8d00db356

Not as new;-) But still working strong and now able to run with ROS2
Jazzy;-)

http://sawppy.com

-- Marco

>
> -Chris
>
> On Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 7:58:48 PM UTC-8 James H Phelan wrote:
>

> __

>
> Karim,
>
> Thank you!  As a follower of the NASA/JPL Open Source Rover I'm very
> partial to the Rocker Bogie and am enjoying the history of it and
> its inventor!
>
>
> James H Phelan
> "Nihil est sine ratione cur potius sit quam non sit"
> Leibniz
>
> On 1/25/2026 6:24 PM, Karim Virani wrote:
>> Almost everything you wanted to know about rocker bogies, along

>> with a loving tribute by a son for his father <https://youtu.be/
>> QKSPk_0N4Jc?si=d7Hr9nreYfBZUNAA&t=1081>. Rewind to the beginning

>> if you want to see the whole thing.
>> --
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>> Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
>> send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
>> hbrobotics/CAKtnkiw3pWu-

>> m3pbBpfg0coBW69RLdg6LxH69S7V609phgXGOA%40mail.gmail.com <https://
>> groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/CAKtnkiw3pWu-
>> m3pbBpfg0coBW69RLdg6LxH69S7V609phgXGOA%40mail.gmail.com?
>> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
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[Jeremy Williams]

Interesting video. Thanks for the share. 

So riddle me this, VIPER, TENACIOUS, FLEX, CADRE…. and other new rovers all use 4 wheels. Why?

The rocker bogey design has many merits over 4 wheels. How could this design be seemingly ignored by new engineers? Ignorance? Changed mission (doubtful) or is there a reason?

When one reinvents the wheel, often the original is better.

:) Jeremy Williams

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