High-Level Project Summary
In our project, we have developed a replacement wheel for a Martian rover. By having limited 3D printing capabilities on site some of the obstacles of printing a large object as a wheel were tackled. Firstly, to split the wheel into smaller parts to fit into a 3D printer, secondly, to construct junctions of an assembled object in a way that would not require specific tools or methods, and finally, a broken part of a wheel could be changed without changing the whole wheel. Our 3D model of a replacement wheel is developed in such a way that it complies with the size, robustness, sustainability, and easy-to-build requirements.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The replacement wheel of NASA's Perseverance rover is a project that enables astronauts to change the rover's critically damaged wheel solely with the availability of an SLS metal 3D printer fit to print parts of 15x10x10cm. Since the availability of tools on a future Mars colony will initially be extremely limited, this design is made such that no tools are required to assemble it. All parts are interconnected with metal rods, locked in place by metal pins. Metal usage is saved by leaving out material volumes where the structural loads allow doing so. The joints are also designed to have quite some play, which together with enhanced wheel tread, allows for great traction on the surface of Mars. The replacement wheel was designed with Solidworks.
Space Agency Data
We have used recommended resources for a given task:
- Pictures of a Perseverance Rover wheels given by NASA [1].
- 3D models of Perseverance and Curiosity Rover wheels were given by NASA database repositories [2].
The inspiration came from easy-to-find and open-source repositories of 3D models.`
Hackathon Journey
Our team found the Space Apps challenge to be very useful and helpful in many different areas. Firstly we had an opportunity to try different things than we are used to - sketching and designing engineering ideas, using different tools for data gathering and analysis. We have also learned about the challenges of sustained habitat on Mars.
Our team found inspiration in trying something new and adapting the individual skills of team members to a given problem. Another gripping idea that made us choose this challenge was the ability to discuss the needs of future Mars habitat problems and think about solutions.
At first, we understood the task differently and tried to think about the systems (waste management, food production) of outfitting Mars and not about the tools that would be handy. After evaluating the time limitations of such a project we have settled on solving the first suggested idea - fixing the broken martian rover wheel.
References
[1] https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/wheels/
[2] https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models
Tags
#3Dmodel, #MarsRover, #Mars