NASA (RASSOR) Regolith Drum Low gravity Excavator (The top 10 finalists of the challenge!)

grabcad

This innovative plan for loading regolith in low-gravity environments like the moon is surprisingly straightforward. The design and construction of the rotary drum are remarkably practical, featuring no moving mechanical parts whatsoever. As a result, its continuous operation can be easily assured even in situations where there's no human observer present. Due to the tiny and lightweight nature of regolith particles, filling scoops in low-gravity environments is an arduous task; however, this problem is efficiently resolved by guiding the drum with spiral blades at a gentle angle to the scoops, while the scoops rotate in the opposite direction of the spirals, loading the regolith without sending it flying into the air. During each rotation, four scoops positioned at a 90-degree angle to one another perform the loading operation and direct the regolith into the drum, with a spiral blade inside regulating the drill's position within the drum for easy loading and unloading. To accomplish this, simply reversing the direction of the drum's rotation is sufficient. The drum itself is crafted from light metals such as aluminum and magnesium. Its dimensions are carefully designed to meet the required specifications and accommodate the demands of the competition. Kudos on presenting this engaging challenge!