Digging on the Moon is a hard job for a robot. It has to be able to collect and move lunar soil, or regolith, without dropping any or kicking up Moon dust around the operation. NASA is asking the public to help design a new bucket drum, the portion of the robot that captures the regolith and keeps it from falling out. The regolith can then be transported to a designated location where reverse rotation of the drum allows it to fall back out. At the end of the competition, the design entries will be judged on a set of criteria, including specific fill ratio, width of the scoops, bucket drum mass, diameter and length, and volume of regolith captured.
Award: 1st Place – $3,000; 2nd Place – $2,000; 3rd Place – $1,000; 4th Place – $750; 5th Place – $250
Open Date: March 16, 2020
Close Date: April 20, 2020
Frequency: Once
For more information, visit: https://grabcad.com/challenges/nasa-regolith-advanced-surface-systems-operations-robot-rassor-bucket-drum-design-challenge