HALO Lunar Sampling System

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The HALO LSS separates 1-2m rocks from smaller pieces and dust using an inner rotating filtering cylinder made of aluminum or Teflon for low friction. The cylinder has small cutouts (300 degrees) for small regolith and larger ones (60 degrees) for rocks up to 2cm, which is attached to a rover arm for collection and powered by a motor using max 10W. Procedure involves burying the HALO-unit spoon in ground, driving forward to collect material, rotating filtering cylinder with Eccentric rotating mass (ERM) for filtration, collecting fine regolith then rocks into separate chambers, and finally tilting down to release remaining rocks. The unit is made of carbon fiber skeletal enclosure, PFA or PEEK plastics, custom bearings, and weighs 0.65kg (excluding camera). It has a rotating speed of 2-3RPM, requires approximately 2.17Ncm torque, and uses Nema 11 motors. The inner tube radius is 44.5mm. Note that the space between cylinders should be at least 2cm for proper function.