“Berlin, We Have Liftoff” – Audi Lunar Quattro Program Steps Up Ahead Of 2017 Launch

Audi’s famous ‘four-ring’ logo should be motoring across the moon late next year as part of the Berlin-based team competing in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.

In order to snare the $US30-million prize on offer from Google, a team must land a rover vehicle on the moon, drive it for at least 500-metres and send some high-res photos back to earth.

Audi has developed the Audi Lunar Quattro rover for the Berlin team called ‘Part Time Scientists’ – actually 35 engineers on three continents – which is now one of only five teams left in the competition after some 25 other entrants abandoned their projects for a variety of reasons.

The unmanned Audi Lunar Quattro – developed by a team of 16 Audi engineers - runs Audi’s e-tron electric drivetrain and developments in the last few months have seen the ultra-lightweight moon rover vehicle pare another eight kilograms, as well as optimising its autonomous driving operations, high-performance electronics and all-wheel-drive system.

Those efforts to trim the weight down to 30kgs used aluminium 3D printing and revised the mix of materials used in construction. This was despite some changes which saw the vehicle and its wheels actually grow in size in order to increase the contact surface and enhance stability.