Awards & Nominations
Monkeys among Mechanics has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
Global Nominee
Design of Mars mission supplies produced by 3D printing
High-Level Project Summary
For the challenge "Outfitting a Mars Habitat: A 3D Print Challenge", we decided to design tools with more versatility, housing goods for easier to produce, more space efficiency, and so on. Also, we verified the design via 3D printing software to ensure that our designs are printable. The whole project is aimed at helping people in the mars mission, with good design that helps in their mission.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
When we land on Mars, most of the tools we lost will be integrated into the products needed for life as a combination. For 3D printing objects on Mars, we propose four categories of life needs for our design guidelines: food, clothing, housing, and mission. Here we classify the required tools and spare parts for fixing the rover as mission; others are as the name implies. According to the importance of the mars mission, our printing order is as follows, the order of mission, housing, clothing, and food.
The 3D printing slicing program PrusaSlicer is used to determine the model's printability, size, and material consumption and check any overhangs.
Each category is listed below according to the order above:
Mission:
In this category, we aimed to renovate, integrate and design smaller and more interchangeable tools and parts from current tool and part designs. The tools and parts are listed below; the same color indicates for integration design.
Multi-Purpose wrench/Screwdriver
First, we wanted to combine Allen wrench, hexagon socket, Phillips screwdriver, and flathead screwdriver into a solution with interchangeable, quick-swap, and better torque capabilities. Therefore, we designed an integrated wrench/screwdriver with swappable heads and a changeable handle/torque arm. The design is printed in metal.
The verification of the design is shown below.
Cable ties
The cable ties are designed to be printable as producible consumables. The design are printed in plastic
The verification of the design is shown below.
Multi-purpose Scissors
The design combines scissors and interchangeable blades. The handle is printed in plaster, blade in metal.
The assembly/disassembly is shown below.
The verification of the design is shown below.
Multi-purpose Pliers
The design combines standard pliers and wire strippers. The handle is printed in plastic others in metal.
A detailed picture of the piler and wire-stripping function is shown below.
The verification of the design is shown below.
Lifter
The verification of the design is shown below.
Rover Wheels
The design of the rover wheel follows guidelines that design Curiosity and Perseverance's wheel, which consists of a deeper groove for leaving information on the ground and a sealed shaft area for preventing dust and sand intrusion.
The wheel assembly consists of an inner rim and outer wheel for easier change, and different rim designs can be conducted for fitting other rovers.
The wheel's rim is printed with metal and a spring-like design to ensure damage to the assembly. The outer wheel is printed with plastic for replacement after wheel damage.
The text design is added to the wheel groove for better recognition.
The design model is shown below.
The verification of the design is shown below.
Fitness equipment
Due to the less gravity on mars than on earth(3.693 m/s²), the human muscles and bones weaken over time. To prevent such problems, fitness equipment is required in space.
We design 3D-printable mechanical-driven fitness equipment mainly inspired by OYO personal gym by OYO fitness.
The image of the design is shown below; the suggested design has two uses, either pulling rope or the handle to bend the equipment.
The exploded assembly is shown below.
The verification of the design is shown below.
Housing
We proposed some models in this category below; the detailed description follows; the same color indicates integration design.
Workbench, Storage Box, chair and bed
We design a combination of workbench, storage box, chair and bed inspired by LEGO, which consists of a stacking design for assembly into different items for better space utilization. The bed, table and chair are printed in concrete, rest in plastic.
The verification of the design is shown below. Ony the plastic parts are verified.
Potted Plants
In situations where framing is required, the suggested design allows raising plants on mars for farming or researching.
To create different variables such as light sources, multiple light sources are made in the designs to change the environment, such as using heating lamps for changing different temperatures.
Housing
We proposed some models in this category below; the detailed description follows; the same color indicates integration design.
Slipper
Slippers can be used in the living area after taking off the spacesuit
Food
We proposed some models in this category below; the detailed description follows; the same color indicates integration design.
Spoon and fork
We design an interchangeable head for the spoon and fork to fit the handle of the wrench/screwdriver beforehand.
Bowl
The verification of the design is shown below.
Space Agency Data
ARC 3D models Database https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models,
The Curiosity model is used for some dimension and design guidelines of our inspired design.
Phase 2 Ground Test Program
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200001427/downloads/20200001427.pdf
The data is used for helping us to know about how to live on mars, and some suggestions of housing stuff that inspired us to design.
Hackathon Journey
We thank NASA and its partners for organizing the event and providing many astronaut-related materials during the competition. We have benefited from the many concepts and knowledge we have learned from searching for these materials.
This information was a great help and inspired us to make our design more comprehensive and realistic for the astronauts. We could also use our time to work on the team, and the efficient division of labor and discussion allowed us to grow as a team.
Special thanks to the organizers of the 2022 NASA Hackathon, our partners, and all the experts for hosting the competition. We are also grateful for the support programs provided by the local governments in the contest.
References
Concept References:
OYO Fitness: https://www.oyofitness.com/
Used Tools:
Dassault Systèmes CATIA V5-6R2018
Autodesk Inventor 2019
Dassault Systèmes Solidworks 2017
Prusa Research PrusaSlicer 2.5.0
Image material source:
https://699pic.com/tupian/zouluderenkatong.html
Tags
#3D printing, #hardware