NEW ROBOT PICTURES: Best Moon-Digging Rovers Named

[Jennie McGrath]

NEW ROBOT PICTURES: Best Moon-Digging Rovers Named


October 20, 2009--This moonraker, designed by Paul's Robotics in Worcester, Massachusetts, was awarded first prize in the third annual Regolith Excavation Challenge, held October 18 at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. The remote-controlled robot took home top honors by lifting 965 pounds (437 kilograms) of faux regolith--the fine, powdery lunar topsoil--into a container within 30 minutes.

A testament to tinkerers, the competition recognizes moon-soil excavators that are sturdy enough to scoop pounds of regolith, powerful enough to move across the moon's surface, and light enough to maneuver easily, say organizers at the California Space Authority, the competition's nonprofit sponsor.

Such soil-hauling machines will be needed in the future as humans prepare to build a lunar outpost on the moon, according to spokesperson Eric Daniels. In addition to helping with construction, astronauts will likely need to excavate regolith to harvest useful materials such as oxygen and hydrogen.

"The hope is that through the excavation designs, someone will strike upon an innovation or new concept that revolutionizes power and energy requirements for excavation," Daniels said.
—Photograph courtesy Jamie Foster, California Space Authority

[Jennie McGrath]

A moon-digging robot that employs independent steering and 28 sensors (pictured) took second prize in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge.

"We got the most out of this machine," Todd Mendenhall, who led the Gardena, California-based Terra Engineering team, said in a statement. "It provided us with the expected level of information that we needed to properly operate the hardware."

For the first time in the competition's three-year history, NASA gave U.S. $750,000 in cash prizes to the top 3 of 19 teams.
—Photograph courtesy Jamie Foster, California Space Authority

[Jennie McGrath]

"Brut Force Digger," the third-place winner of the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge, was built in just a couple of months using surplus materials, Team Braundo member Valerie Mendenhall said in a statement.

"In this design we applied the 'simple is better' approach and, happily, it paid off," said Mendenhall, from Ranchos Palos Verde, California.

Regolith is both extremely fine and extremely dense, making it challenging to dig, according to organizers of the annual robot competition.
—Photograph courtesy Jamie Foster, California Space Authority

[Jennie McGrath]

An excavator built by Team E-REX (pictured) got a special mention in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge for lifting the most regolith—165 pounds (74 kilograms)—in a single haul.

Moon-digging rovers created by citizen inventors show that "innovation is not only alive but growing," according to Lynn Baroff, who headed the judging panel that awarded the cash prizes.
—Photograph courtesy Jamie Foster, California Space Authority

[Jennie McGrath]

A person at the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge got covered with dust during the competition.

"This was an incredibly tough competition, and teams came up with fantastic ideas, some of which might find use in future missions to the moon," Greg Schmidt, deputy director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, said in a statement.

"The biggest win is getting so many talented young people involved in NASA's mission of exploration."
—Photograph courtesy Jamie Foster, California Space Authority