In-situ resource utilization, or the use of the resources available in a foreign environment, is crucial to the success of manned missions to Mars; however, it is a severely underdeveloped technology. This project explores the development of a rover capable of operating in a simulated Martian environment. The rover is capable of mining large amounts of simulated ice chunks from below the surface, driving its payload to a collection station, and unloading all of the collected material. This project is partially inspired by NASA’s Robotic Mining Competition which served to establish a set of guidelines around which the robot was constructed.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Peterson, Brian Grant
• Bozzuto, Domenic Lawrence
• Wu, Yu-sen
• Jacques, Rene Cochran
• Jaeger, Aaron Martin

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042617-133846

Advisor

• Ciaraldi, Michael J.
• Stafford, Kenneth A.

Year

• 2017

Date created

• 2017-04-26

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Robotics Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Interdisciplinary

Rights statement

• In Copyright