Deployment of Cabling on Hypothesized Surfaces – Penguins of Psyche: Cable Command

INSTITUTION

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT)

CLASS

Iridium Class (2024 – 2025)

STUDENT TEAM

Alex Bilodeau, Mechanical Engineering

Simon Blair, Mechanical Engineering

Reid Morris, Mechanical Engineering

Devlen Spradlin, Mechanical Engineering

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Sangelkar
Dr. Constans
Dr. Granieri
Dr. Aidoo
Dr. Collins
Dr. Jones

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Our assigned goal was to deploy a 1-km fiber optic cable on the surface of Psyche in a specified pattern. Our design solution is a trailer that is dragged behind a rover. The design utilizes the torque generated from the wheels being dragged along the surface of Psyche, that torque is transferred through a full drivetrain which then rotates the spool. The spool is rotated at an angular velocity that varies as the thickness of the spool decreases layer by layer. The angular velocity at each layer causes the cable to deploy at a uniform speed that matches the linear speed of the trailer and rover. The main areas of our project that we have focused on are spool optimization, drivetrain design, anchoring of the cable to the surface of Psyche, and the deployment of the cable anchors

CAD model of a conical structure with a cylindrical top and a flat base, featuring small protrusions underneath 3D model of a conical structure with a central cylindrical protrusion, resembling a simplified spacecraft component Circular pattern with evenly spaced black squares on a brown background, related to cable deployment concept Gray, cone-shaped object with a serrated edge and a hook-like structure on top, related to cable deployment

Colorful 3D model of interconnected gears and shafts, illustrating a drivetrain mechanism for cable deployment

Diagram of a trailer hitch mechanism for deploying fiber optic cable, showing a spool and drivetrain components

Four-wheeled trailer design with visible drivetrain and spool, intended for deploying fiber optic cable on Psyche

Diagram of a trailer with two large wheels and a spool mechanism, designed for deploying fiber optic cable on Psyche Top view of a trailer design with four wheels and a drivetrain system for deploying fiber optic cable on Psyche Four people stand by a poster and a large purple cable spool in an indoor exhibition space

This work was created in partial fulfillment of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Capstone Course “ME470,” “ME471,” and “ME472”. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.ssl.berkeley.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World” [Contract number NNM16AA09C] is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.