Teams of undergraduate and graduate students from universities and colleges throughout the United States descended upon NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to compete May 16-18, 2018, in the agency’s 9th annual Robotic Mining Competition (RMC), which provides a competitive environment to foster innovative ideas and solutions that could be used on NASA’s deep space exploration missions.
Along with 44 other teams, the 91ֿ Robotics Team designed and constructed a robot that was fashioned to mine simulated Martian terrain along with the gravel below it.
91ֿ’s robot collected a total of 1.2 kilograms of gravel underneath the regolith (loose material covering solid rock) within a 10-minute time frame, one of only six teams to qualify. They placed third in the nation in the on-site mining category, with a scoop design that enabled their robot to operate at a simple and light level, allowing excellent functionality.
“The team was very pleased with placing third out of a strong field of teams from across the country,” says Darwin Boyd, PhD, team faculty adviser, assistant professor at KSU’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering and a former research associate at Cleveland’s NASA Lewis Research Center.
At the end of the competition, 91ֿ’s team realized that great engineering built on ease and a simple design was the key that helped them earn their high placing.