2017-2018
FERV
NASA Student Launch · Senior design and competition archive
Vehicle and season
Launched twice in one weekend. On the second launch landed in a ditch, destroying the structural integrity of the bluetube air-frame. Pictured in the bottom left is the subscale, Very Nuts II. Pictured in the bottom right is the payload, a rover that was deployed from a panel in the airframe, autonomously drive 5 ft laterally, and then deploy a set of foldable solar panels after reaching its final destination.
Mission system: Rover
Challenge: This challenge required teams to deploy a ground vehicle capable of clearing the landing zone. The rover had to autonomously deploy from the landed rocket, drive a minimum lateral distance of 5 feet to clear the “blast zone,” and mechanically unfold a set of solar panels to simulate power generation.
Design/Execution: The payload system featured a rover housed inside the payload tube, which rotated freely about a Lazy Susan bearing system during flight. Upon landing, the payload tube self-righted via this bearing, and an electric latch unlocked to free the rover. The rover then autonomously drove 5 feet in any direction from the rocket body using geared motors, tracking distance via onboard sensors. Once the 5-foot distance was achieved, the microcontroller triggered fold-out mechanical arms attached to the chassis. As the arms rotated, the simulated solar panels unfurled and locked into the deployed position.
Vehicle
FERV
Mission
Rover
Season
2017-2018