Robotic Explorer for Hypothesized Surfaces – Cupid

INSTITUTION

Michigan State University (MSU)

CLASS

Iridium Class (2024 – 2025)

STUDENT TEAM

Zachary Colo, Mechanical Engineering

Anthony Demaio, Mechanical Engineering

Alessio Laura, Mechanical Engineering

William Schugars, Mechanical Engineering

Jared Throne, Mechanical Engineering

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Michael Lavagnino
Dr. Lik Chuan Lee
Dr. Zhaojian Li
Dr. William Resh

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Our objective is to design a rover that could land on the asteroid as part of a
follow-on mission once data collection is complete. This rover will be equipped to navigate various hypothetical terrains, including flat metallic plains, metallic/rocky debris fields, rugged metallic or rocky areas, and steep crater walls with metallic surfaces.

This is a model showing a six-wheeled design for a potential robotic explorer.

This work was created in partial fulfillment of the Michigan State University Capstone Course “ME 481”. 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.