RASSOR Drum Design 2.1

grabcad

Please see the "Report_README.pdf" file for a detailed description.To achieve a maximum fill ratio, either a locking mechanism must be mounted at the entrance of the regolith in the drum or incorporate a static drum design. A locking mechanism would have intricate parts which if comes in contact with tiny regolith particle will render it ineffective. The proposed design consists of a static storage drum which is connected to the Freewheel Mechanism. This mechanism allows the storage drum to rotate only in one direction. During the excavation, the Scoop rotates in a direction such that excavator blades dig the regolith. The freewheel mechanism installed in the storage drum will prevent the bucket drum to rotate with scoops during loading. It’s the same mechanism that is in use in bicycles that prevent the rotation of the wheel when paddled in a reversed direction. At the unloading site, the rotation direction is reversed which makes storage drum to rotate along with scoops. A working animation of the design can be found here-