HoneyBee Robotics

SLUSH is a thermomechanical probe designed to penetrate large ice shelves on Europa, Enceladus, and Mars and investigate the feasibility of life. 

I designed tests and designed and fabricated test fixtures to evaluate the performance of melt probe prototypes tested under different conditions. Using data gathered from the tests, I proposed design changes that would reduce failure modes and increase the efficiency of the melt probes. I also designed and constructed a collapsable deployment apparatus that could support the melt probes during testing in the arctic circle. 

MircroSampler is a small rotary-percussive drill designed for use on small lunar landers to gather surface and subsurface lunar regolith. 

I redesigned the drill shaving collection method to increase the collected drill shavings by over 450%, increase the maximum drill depth by 20%, and prevent common failure modes.  To collect drill shavings, I used the existing Z-axis moment, translated via linkages, to activate an internal percussive mechanism. To validate the new collection method, I also ran tests on various materials in different conditions to demonstrate the success of the new drill-shaving collection method. 

Working on Micro-Sampler taught me about mechanical design, gears, splines, machining, manufacturing, data characterization, and more