NASA Robotic Mining Competition (RMC): Lunabotics

The University of Portland (UP) Robotics Club has designed a robotic mining system capable of operating in a simulated lunar environment for NASA’s Robotic Mining Competition (RMC): Lunabotics. Held at the Kennedy Space Center, the RMC is designed to develop innovative robotic mining systems, following NASA’s efforts of returning to the Moon through the Artemis program. The program aims to bring humans closer to achieving a sustainable presence in space. In addition to the robotic system, teams are judged on K-12 STEM Outreach, Systems Engineering papers, and oral presentations.With the cancelation of the in-person competition and closure of the UP campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 season,the focus of the club shifted to the design rather than fabrication of the rover. While not being able to fully construct the physical rover by the end of the season,the UP Robotics club thrived during remote learning laying a strong foundation of design work for the current team and coming in 2ndplace for the STEM Outreach portion of the competition. Moving forward with the continued support granted from the Oregon Space Grant Consortium and the Dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, the team will build off last year’s successes with the return to on campus work.