2011RoboticsSeniorDesignTeam -NASA RegolithExcavator

Team Manatee
Raf
aelAr
ndt
,Jonat
hanBl
ock,Zachar
yGrif
fa,Mi
keRiley,Davi
dSwanson,MikeVar
ga,RyanWal
dmann,EugenZi
nn
Facul
tyAdvi
sor:Dr.Wil
li
am Far
row
I
ntroducti
on Excavati
on Sensor
s
Lunarregolithi sari chsourceofraw materi alssuchas •TwoLi nksyscamer aspr ovide
oxygenandmetal s.I talsocontai nstraceparti clesof Theexcavat orf eatur es
forwar dandr ever seview
helium-3whi chcoul dbeusedi nnext- generationnucl ear 20bucket st ocol l
ectt he
fusionpowerpl antsonthemoon.Lunarregol ith’sconsi s- • FourLEDsal low for
regol i
th.Sincei twoul d navi gati
on
tencyshouldal l
ow f orrelativel
yeasystri pmi ni ng.A lunar
excavatorisneededtocol lectlunarregol i
thand takeal otofener gyt o • Ei ghtbumpsensor sdet ect
transporti
ttoaf easi blelocation.Inthei nterestofgather- raiset her egol i
tht he col li
sions
ingnew andcreati vei deastobui l
dsuchadevi ce,NASA has hopperwaspl acedhi gh
createdacompeti ti
onbetweenuni versiti
estobui lda
• Li mitswi tchesdet ectt he
enought odumpr i
ght openi ngandcl osingoft he
lunarexcavatorandtesti tinasi mul atedlunarenvi ronment.
Theteam spl itintosub- teamsf orthekeydesi gnareasof intot hecol lectionbox, hopper
theexcavator: thusourexcavat orwas •Twor otar yencoder smeasur e
-
Excavati on madenar rowerand thespeedoft hedr ivetracks
-
Structure
-
Hopper
l
ongert or eacht he • Li nearpot entiomet er
sbui l
t
-
Sensors hopper ’
shei ght. intotheact uatorsmeasur e
Thetrackdesi gnandcontrol sfrom lastyearwere Addi ti
onally,i tfeatur es diggi ngdept h
reimpli
mented. twol i
nearact uator st o
adj ustdiggi ngdept h.

Structure
Thef ramei smadef r
om
¾I nchand1I nch
square4130Chr omol y
Steeltubing.Custom
bracket smadef rom
6061Al uminum wer e
Proj
ectObj
ecti
ves desi gnedt oattachthe
-Themassoftheexcavatormustnotexceed80kg
-Allexcavati
onhardwaremustbei nitial
lycontai nedwi thi
na
excavator.
1.5m widthx. 75m l engthx2m hei ghtvol ume.
-Theexcavatormustbecontrol ledthroughtel eroboticor Hopper
autonomousoperati on. Acknowl
edgement
s
-Theexcavatormustbesel f
-powered. Thehopperhadt obedesi gnedtodump
-Theexcavatormustbeequi ppedwi tharedemergencystop theregol
itheasil
y.Thedesi gnusesa
button,havingami nimum di ameterof5cm.
curvedbackwal landfr
ontdoor .The
-Excavationmethodsmustbef easibleonal unarmi ssi
on. 3
-Componentsarenotrequi redtobespacequal if
iedf or hopperhasavol umeof0. 0407m and
vacuum,el ectromagneti c,andthermalef fects. hol
ds30.5kg.
-Theexcavatormustbeabl etocollectandunl oadatl east
10kgofmateri alina15mi nutetimeperi od.
-Theexcavatormustbeabl etounloadi tscol lectioncon-
tainerovera1m- highbarrier.
-TheexcavatormustmeetNASA’ sLunaboti csmi ningcom-
petiti
onrequirements( mostofwhi chareaf orementi oned).