Category Archives: Blog
Composite Chassis Swing Arm
Polaris (shown in the picture above) prospects for water at the lunar poles by using a drill to sample lunar soil and scientific instruments that detect water. The rover is capable of driving and avoiding obstacles autonomously including traverses into dark regions in the lunar pole’s long shadows. Polaris suspension includes raise and lower capability… {read more}
New Website
Astrobotic Technology released a new website yesterday. The new site is easier to navigate and more user-friendly. The upper left corner of the screen displays the rebranded team logo and the content has been updated to include new details about the rovers, lander, and mission.
Composite Wheels
A composite wheel has been developed. The wheel is designed and molds are created. A CAD model is used to create molds that are cut from foam. The molds are glued together and cut by a CNC machine, or robot arm. The mold is sanded down and a layer of 5-minute epoxy is applied. The… {read more}
Test of Ramp Deployment at 1/6 g
Ramps have successfully shown deployment and egress of the rover from our lander in full Earth gravity. This comes at the cost of substantial over-design and mass too great for flight. The need is to lighten the design for flight and test that at the lower dynamics and impact forces that will be experienced in… {read more}
Scarab at Pittcon
Scarab, a rover designed to explore the lunar poles, was at Pittcon, the world’s largest conference and exposition for laboratory science, this week in Orlando, Florida. Scarab spent the mornings with almost 2000 kids learning about the moon and robotics. The elementary through high school students operated the rover, questioned the engineering team, and viewed… {read more}
Destination: Moon
Reposted from Carnegie Mellon’s website Corinne Vassallo (A’13) said, sign me up. With the help of a SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) grant, the music major was able to pursue her desire to contribute to the Google Lunar X project at Carnegie Mellon University. “What’s great about CMU is that I can study music very… {read more}
