As Mechanical Lead, I led design on two NASA award-winning ice extraction robots.
We aimed to solve one of the largest barriers to a sustained human presence outside our world – access to in-situ water. The key lies in the 1,200,000 cubic miles of ice that lie beneath the surface of Mars.
In 2020 we developed PRISMM, our first iteration of an all-in-one solution to exposing, melting, extracting, and filtering subsurface ice. PRISMM was selected as a National Finalist in the 2020 challenge.
PARSEC improved upon PRISMM in every facet, while retaining the same 60kg mass. I spearheaded the tool carousel, our primary innovation in which all equipment was mounted to a radial turntable. This increased our working area by over 300%, increased tool change speed, and enabled simultaneous tool operation.
At the 2021 NASA Mars Ice Challenge, Team PARSEC set records as the First Team to Collect Water, 1st Place Undergraduate Team, Best Technical Paper, and 2nd Overall.
Why Ice Extraction?
The Challenge
Organized by the National Institute of Aeronautics (NIA) on behalf of NASA. Objectives include:
Development
Midpoint Update
Final Integration Video
Final System Breakdown
