 From ESMD site: “this project will investigate concepts for Lunar Regolith Excavation equipment and propose solutions in the form of completed designs and prototypes”, using a Systems Engineering Approach  Topic: “Lunar Regolith Excavation for Oxygen Production and Outpost Emplacement”  A standalone Systems Engineering Overview for Application of the Process on a Student Project  Technical Contact and Monitor: Rob Mueller, Surface Systems Lead Engineer  Don’t give students any design ideas – let their creative juices flow!

I teach a senior project class (“capstone design”), working with a team of students assigned to a project. You could be AE, ME, EE, etc. Minimal or no lecturing – students spend their time on a project designing and building a prototype. Faculty guides the student team through the design process. Project could, but not necessarily, be multidisciplinary (single subsystem or many subsystems).  So does this describe your situation??????  AND  Are you interested in a NASA capstone design project???

 NASA will support student teams with $7K through the Space Grant Consortium  Pick a Project from the ESMD website; I chose the lunar excavator  But students need some background information to proceed:  Need to know about designing for the lunar environment (although they build a prototype for use on the earth)  Need to know about Systems Engineering because NASA wants a Systems Engineering Approach  What Resources are Available????

 On Systems Engineering (SE): Provides background by a brief, but complete SE guidebook chapter (Chapter 3) for a student-team Systems Engineering Project.  Student Friendly, with lots of examples and direction meant to simplify a complex process and APPLY IT.  Faculty Friendly – faculty lectures for 2 weeks, and then guides the process per the process in the handbook and webpage (webpage is “step- by-step”).  Co-authored by a NASA Systems Engineer.  Strongly influenced by a special NASA SE course developed and tested at Univ of Texas Spring 08, by a NASA engineer with 20 years experience in SE.  An application example project is presented in Chapter 4 on the CubeSat - led by JM Wersinger  On the Lunar Environment: Provides background on past and future lunar missions, lunar environment, materials and components, thermal control, CAE

 Made it “student friendly”. Cut through the clutter that SE literature is full of.  A “linking webpage” – a chronology for the course, basis for the 2 weeks of lectures.  Meant not to impede student design efforts with lots of lectures.  Faculty should lecture about 2 weeks on SE, taking students through the webpage. Students read Chapter 3 (Systems Engineering) and CubeSat chapter. Quiz Students  Thereafter faculty guides student team, who are referring back to the webpage for guidance.

 Webpage is a “Cliff Notes” format and project chronology, that links to the in-depth content of the following chapters:  Chapter 1: Introduction  Chapter 2: Systems Engineering  Chapter 3: Systems Engineering Example of a Cubesat  Chapter 4: Systems Engineering Tools  Chapter 5: The Lunar Environment  Chapter 6: Component Design and Selection  Chapter 7: Thermal Control  Chapter 8: CAE Tools

 Best reference: The “Lunar Sourcebook”, the book by Eckhart if you can find it.  Review of the LPI website with the students.  Objective: Provide background. Excite students. Students have little knowledge about what happened in early lunar missions, rovers are fun and legacy, neat lunar bases, teleoperated and autonomous “robonaut”, “chariot”.

 Best references: AU CubeSat Report, NASA SE Handbook as a reference, U of Texas Course notes.  Systems Engineering literature is a mess, particularly if you want to apply it and learn it quickly. Complex and inconsistent terminology.  Big questions: How to simplify SE, and apply on a student project?  Sought help from experts who have applied it: Dick Cook, Lisa Guerra, Joe Bonometti, JM Wersinger  It is possible to use these chapter for any SE student project!!!

 The Vee Chart: “Vee Chart” for the lifecycle, from –A through D  The 11 SE functions: NASA Document GPG7120: Used this and description of 11 SE functions  A Good Example: JM Wersinger’s student report that demonstrate SE tools, management structure, documentation, requirements, architecture, condensed in Chapter 3.

Time and Project Maturity Decomposition & Definition Sequence Integration & Verification Sequence Mission Requirements & Priorities System Demonstration & Validation Develop System Requirements & System Architecture Allocate Performance Specs & Build Verification Plan Design Components Integrate System & Verify Performance Specs Component Integration & Verification Verify Component Performance Fabricate, Assemble, Code & Procure Parts Systems Engineering Domain Component Engineering Domain

 1The Lunar Environment and Issues for Engineering Design 1The Lunar Environment and Issues for Engineering Design  1.1Gravity and the Lunar Vacuum 1.1Gravity and the Lunar Vacuum  1.2The Lunar Day and Night 1.2The Lunar Day and Night  1.3Radiation 1.3Radiation  1.3.1Electromagnetic and Particle Radiation (Smithers, 2007; Tribble, 2003) 1.3.1Electromagnetic and Particle Radiation (Smithers, 2007; Tribble, 2003)  1.3.2Ionizing Radiation 1.3.2Ionizing Radiation  1.3.3Radiation and Survivability 1.3.3Radiation and Survivability  1.4Surface Temperature 1.4Surface Temperature  1.5Micrometeoroids 1.5Micrometeoroids  1.6Regolith 1.6Regolith  1.6.1General Characteristics 1.6.1General Characteristics  1.6.2Other Physical Properties 1.6.2Other Physical Properties  1.6.3Chemistry 1.6.3Chemistry  1.6.4Geotechnical and Engineering properties 1.6.4Geotechnical and Engineering properties  1.6.5Regolith Simulants 1.6.5Regolith Simulants  1.7Summary of Lunar Resources 1.7Summary of Lunar Resources  1.8APPENDIX – SOIL AND ROVER FORCE CALCULATIONS 1.8APPENDIX – SOIL AND ROVER FORCE CALCULATIONS

 Best Reference: Conley (Satellites), Lunar Rover pages at LPI  When designing the excavator, not much guidance is available in the literature for lunar components, so turned to space engineering literature that focused on satellites.  The Lunar Rover represents legacy, students can view a successful lunar product  I sent students out to do “trade studies”, looking at materials for a bit, conveyor belt, support structure, etc.  Found and listed a number of standards  Considered fasteners, bearings, motors, power components

Modeling and simulating is often used in the design phases of Systems Engineering Demonstrated a multi-body dynamic simulation of a excavator using Dynamic Designer

 In response to and suggested by reviewer  Rearrangement of order of topics to suit a course  Content when needed in the course, based on SE approach and sequence of SE events as the course proceedes.  Also a kind of “Cliff Notes” with links to content already in other chapters

 Follow the Process on the Webpage  Pick a mission objective  Get money in place from Space Grant  Contact other faculty for multidisciplinary teams (although you can run just an ME team with the mechanical excavator missions objective)  Design and build for one or two semesters, excavator to mate to KSC vehicle  Test in bin full of dry concrete.  Compete???  Send video to NASA+ report

 David Beale   