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

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 solution thus far has been to design 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 and rotates the spool. The spool is rotated at an angular velocity that changes over time as the thickness of the spool decreases layer by layer. That angular velocity 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 the spool optimization, drivetrain design, anchoring of the cable to the surface of Psyche, and the deployment of the cable anchors.

This work was created in partial fulfillment of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Capstone Course “ME 470‌”. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.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.