Slashdot | Moon-Excavation Robots Face Off
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Paul D. Fernhout
Oct 31, 2009, 2:08:41 PM10/31/09
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http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/31/1321219/Moon-Excavation-Robots-Face-Off
""Student teams designed and built robotic power-lifters to excavate
simulated lunar soil (a.k.a. 'regolith') earlier this month, with $750,000
in prizes up for grabs. Excavating regolith, according to NASA, will be an
important part of any construction projects or processing of natural
resources on the Moon. Interestingly, regolith is especially difficult to
dig because its dust particles want to stick together. The whole robotic
system has to be sturdy enough to scoop moon dirt and powerful enough to
move through the dust while still meeting the weight requirements. The
winning excavator from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts
lifted 1,103 pounds within the allotted time, and got a sweet $500,000 for
their troubles.""
""Student teams designed and built robotic power-lifters to excavate
simulated lunar soil (a.k.a. 'regolith') earlier this month, with $750,000
in prizes up for grabs. Excavating regolith, according to NASA, will be an
important part of any construction projects or processing of natural
resources on the Moon. Interestingly, regolith is especially difficult to
dig because its dust particles want to stick together. The whole robotic
system has to be sturdy enough to scoop moon dirt and powerful enough to
move through the dust while still meeting the weight requirements. The
winning excavator from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts
lifted 1,103 pounds within the allotted time, and got a sweet $500,000 for
their troubles.""
--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
http://www.beyondajoblessrecovery.org/
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