Tardigrade Custom-Built Moon Rover Motorcycle Unveiled

Tardigrade is a concept electric lunar vehicle built to theoretically explore the moon's surface. The Tardigrade has a speed limit of 15 kmph and can carry various types of equipment, and has a battery range of almost 110 km. The lunar motorcycle concept has been named after the microscopic creatures that can survive in the vacuum of space. The Tardigrade started off as a lunar motorcycle sketch by Russian designer Andrew Fabishevsky, and created by designer Nico Muller (of Hookie Co., a German brand), utilising the electric drive components from a CAKE motorcycle (a Swedish company involved in production of e-bikes).

The concept lunar rover was built taking inspiration from a concept sketch by a Russian designer.

"I saw Andrew's concept sketch and was hooked immediately," said Muller. "After some calls we got his approval to build this amazing machine. Andrew's renderings weren't detailed and true to scale, so the design process began using Autodesk Fusion 360, and we engineered the whole Tardigrade from scratch."

The completed electric motorcycle concept lunar rover will be on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles

The digital engineering alone took almost six months, and the German company designed everything in-house, incorporating CAKE's drivetrain, wiring loop, battery and two hubs for the Tardigrade's wheels. The CAKE hubs are CNC machined from 7075 aircraft aluminum for 32 straight-pull spokes, and stainless steel SKF cartridge bearings. Airless carbon tyres are mounted to an aluminium cage, and the bike can easily be disassembled, with the whole unit weighing 134 kg.

All body parts, like the handlebar mounting unit and the wheel caps, were 3D printed. Hookie chose a light, strong, and flexible plastic, which allowed them to print really big parts. Smaller parts were fabricated with laser sintering, using white nylon plastic. The Tardigrade will be on display as part of the ADV: Overland exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.