Autonomous excavator vehicle concept

grabcad

I completely understand that my entry didn't meet the basic requirements, but I couldn't help myself and had to see what would happen. I used a shaftless screw method for excavation, which allows the bucket to hold regolith tightly when full and transport it to the unloading point. Before designing this idea, I built a small prototype and tested the shaftless screw excavation and holding/unloading processes. The autonomous excavator vehicle was designed and animated in SketchUp Pro, with the video created using iMovie. All calculations for the functional mechanical configuration and proportions of the conceptual vehicle are workable and suitable for the lunar astrophysical environment. The structural design aimed to minimize mechanism use and deployable structures to reduce mass. The shaftless screw and fastenings are made of titanium. The bucket holding hands have 2-dimensional movement joints driven by electric motors, as shown in pictures. Some technical specifications include: Bucket radius: 110 mm Bucket length: 710 mm Vehicle dimensions: 840mm x 880 mm Bucket volume: 26 liters Number of moving joints on each hand: 2 (x,z) Approximate vehicle weight with solar array, batteries, buckets, and all drivers: 25-27 kg.