Hypothesized Surface: Robotic Explorer for Hypothesized Surfaces – Tank Tread Robotic Explorer

INSTITUTION

Pennsylvania State University – Behrend (Penn State – Behrend)

CLASS

Tungsten Class (2023 – 2024)

STUDENT TEAM

Aidan Domencic, Mechanical Engineering
Carl Pietrzyk, Mechanical Engineering
Isabella Pilyih, Mechanical Engineering
Theodore Boehm, Mechanical Engineering

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL GUIDANCE

Professor Dean Lewis

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Xiawa Wu

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Our Problem statement is to: Design a rover’s locomotion mechanism that can traverse the hypothesized surfaces of the Psyche Asteroid.

Purple robotic rover with tank treads on gravel, labeled "Psyche," designed for traversing asteroid surfaces Purple and beige tank tread robotic rover on rocky surface, labeled "Psyche," designed for asteroid exploration Purple and beige tank tread robotic rover on a gravel surface, labeled "Psyche Purple robotic rover with tank treads labeled "PSYCHE" on rocky terrain, designed for Psyche Asteroid exploration Purple and white tank tread robotic explorer on gravel, designed for traversing the Psyche Asteroid's surfaces Purple robotic rover with tank treads on rocky terrain, designed for traversing Psyche Asteroid surfaces Purple robotic rover with tank treads labeled "Psyche" on rocky terrain, designed for asteroid exploration Purple robotic rover with tank treads on rocky surface, labeled "Psyche," designed for asteroid exploration

This work was created in partial fulfillment of the Penn State – Behrend Capstone Course “ME 448”. 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.