wheels, wheels and wheels...

[killium]

wheels, always wheels! Why don't they work on an articulated robot for other planets exploration ?

 

[MeteorWayne]

Because wheels are far less complicated and the failure modes don't disable the rover.

 

[tanstaafl76]

Because there's no need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[vulture4]

Living things don't have wheels because there is no simple way for them to grow, but wheels are mechanically simpler and more efficient for traversing most terrain (except stairways, which were designed specifically for legs). We take the ability to walk for granted, but it depends on sophisticated reflexes and elaborate feedback control mechanisms. Even on earth, the complex mechanical systems needed to allow robots to walk are only now becoming possible. That said, very irregular terrain can defeat wheels and and perhaps in the future we will need the Star Wars walkers.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Very irregular terrain can also defeat legs, and once a legged rover falls over it might not be able to recover. Whereas, rovers with frozen wheels have proven (for more than 20 times their designed lifetime) be able to get around just fine.