Developing a Mining Robot for Mars Exploitation: NASA Robotics Mining Competition (RMC)

Tashtoush, Tariq; Velazquez, Agustin; Aranguren, Andres; Cavazos, Cristian; Reyes, David; Hernández, Elkin; Bueno, Emily; Otero, Esteban; Zamudio, Gerardo; Casarez, Hector; Rullan, Jorge; Rodríguez, Jesús; Villarreal, Juan Carlos; Gutierrez, Michael E.; Rodriguez, Patricio; Torres, Roberto Augusto de Almeida; Martinez, Rosaura; Partida, Sanjuana

doi:10.14569/ijacsa.2020.0111205

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“…As a leader in space exploration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed several unmanned robots, which were sent to the Moon and Mar in exploration missions to navigate the highly hazardous planets ecosystem and mine the available resources that will be converted to the needed energy (Oxygen and Hydrogen) before sending any human astronauts [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. This technology provided the highest level of human safety and lowered space transportation costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Mining Robot Prototype for NASA Robotic Mining Competition Utilizing Systems Engineering Principles

Tashtoush¹,

Vazquez²,

Herrera³

et al. 2021

IJACSA

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The 2017 National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Robotic Mining Competition (RMC) is an outstanding opportunity for engineering students to implement all the knowledge and experience that they gained in the undergraduate years, in building a robot that will provide an intellectual insight to NASA, to develop innovative robotic excavation concepts. For this competition, multiple universities from all over the U.S. will create teams of students and faculty members to design and build a mining robot that can traverse, mine, excavate at least 10 kg of regolith, then deposit it in a bin in the challenging simulated Martian terrain. Our team's goal is to improve on our current design and overcome DustyTRON 2.0's limitations by analyzing them and implementing new engineering solutions. The process to improve this system will enable our team members to learn mechanical, electrical, and software engineering. DustyTRON 3.0 is divided into three subteams, namely, Mechanical, Circuitry, Software sub-teams. The mechanical team focused on solving the mechanical structure, robot mobility, stability, and weight distribution. The circuitry team focused on the electrical components such as batteries, wiring, and motors. The Software team focused on programming the NVidia TK1, Arduino controller, and camera integration. This paper will outline the detailed work following systems engineering principles to complete this project, from research, to design process and robot building compete at the Kennedy Space Center. Only 54 teams were invited to participate from all over the US and DustyTRON team represented the state of Texas and placed the 29th and awarded the "Innovative Design" award.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%