NASA Human Exploration Rover Challange (HERC)

8/2022-5/2023

Project Scope

For the 22'-23' semester, I joined the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) team at the University of West Florida. Since the competition had changed during COVID, the team had to design, from scratch, a new rover in two semesters. My primary jobs during the design process was translating all hand-drawn designs into CAD and helping design the wheels. During the competition, I was in charge of coordinating the team and was the team's spokesperson for the news.

Wheels

The wheel was mocked up in CAD, and individual pieces were cut from sheet metal with a water jet. The design consisted of 6 spokes bent at a 9° angle, and the rims were welded onto two of the side pieces of bent sheet metal. To provide extra support, internal pieces were welded between the spokes.

For the treads, unwanted car tires were cut into strips and wrapped around the wheels. To attach them to the rims, the treads were bolted to the rims and reinforced with contact cement.

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