NASA RASSOR BUCKET DRUM

grabcad

When developing the bucket drum, I centered my attention on how deeply the bucket drum could penetrate. The design I selected is a cone-like shape that facilitates effortless excavation in various locations. With this design, the radius measures 205mm and the scoops extend 20mm in both directions, resulting in a total diameter of 450mm. The cone-like shape consists of four distinct components: the base, cap, and two intermediate sections. These four components have lengths ranging from 85mm to 98mm. When assembled, the entire bucket drum measures 360mm in length. This design features six scoops with widths of 32mm each. At maximum capacity, three scoops can be engaged simultaneously, yielding a total width of 96mm. If fully loaded, this design could capture approximately 19 liters of regolith. Although functional as is, the design would benefit from added or improved components. Installing doors on the scoops could prevent collected regolith from escaping. As designed, the bucket drum would serve as an accessory to the RASSOR, necessitating the attachment of an arm and allowing it to rest on the RASSOR when not in use. To minimize this design, four bucket drums could be used as "tires" similar to the original RASSOR configuration.