NASA Drum Chalenge

grabcad

Low gravity is a prerequisite for the concept of a bucket-type excavator with forced bucket emptying. It is not possible to efficiently utilize the free flowing of the regolith from the inside of the blade closer to the drum axis while simultaneously rotating the regolith. There is a loading problem with the rotation speed! With low gravity, the ratio of the gravitational force to the centrifugal force of the regolith affecting the blade wall changes! My concept uses the forced removal of the rotating regolith from the blades towards the inside of the drum using a blade content ejector. This solution allows 95% of material to be reliably removed from each blade in the hopper position. The momentum of the rotating regolith in the blade and the change of its direction are used in the loading process. Unloading of the regolith from the reservoir is done by gravity. Intended material: shovels, drum and ejector with ribs - titanium sheet, contact wheels-titanium, grabs of shovels - cemented carbide, springs - steel, bearings - titanium / steelDrum magazine:* it contains no internal partitions* allows 100% filling of the drum magazine* varying amounts of content do not affect loading speed* volume of regolith capture: 32.04 liters* the same electric motor can be used to rotate the blades and drumLoading blades:* system includes 4 blades for high loading efficiency* each blade includes a grab for uncoupling the hard regolith* brush at the opposite end of the blade is constantly in contact with the drum and allows the regolith to be insulated inside the rotating blade* regolith will not get into the gap between the blade and the drum - it will not block the movement* construction of the blade and drum does not allow irreversible clogging with a large piece of regolith* use of a wider loading aperture in the drum (and suitable drum handling) makes it possible to load larger pieces (130 mm) than the blade size