The Utah Robotic Mining Project went into a national competition without high expectations. They left with a third place medal and $1,000.
Last month, NASA held its annual Robotic Mining Competition, to which the U brought a team for the first time. Forty-nine schools participated in the competition held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
George Chapin, a senior in mining engineering, led the 14-member team as project manager this year.
“We thought a lot of the other teams would have a head start on us, so we went out with no expectations. We were really just excited that we built and had a functioning robot for the competition,” he said. “To be so successful really exceeded our expectations.”
He believes the team’s success came down to careful planning. Last summer the team began to fundraise for the $10,000 in necessary fees to create the robot and travel to the competition. Rio Tinto sponsored the group, with the Utah Mining Association, BIG-D Construction and Wheeler Machinery also contributing.
Chapin said companies are willing to sponsor projects and competitions like these because of the real-world experience they offer.
“It’s an investment in future engineering talent, as well as a great way to promote the mining industry,” he said.
One of the purposes behind the robot projects is to mine for water, in the form of ice, buried on the surface of Mars. In the competition, the robots must traverse the “Martian” terrain, excavate regolith (loose superficial material covering solid rock) and deposit it into a collector bin.
The qualifying goal was to get 10 kg of regolith into the bin in 10 minutes. The U’s team mined a total of 119 kg in the two 10 minute rounds of the competition.
Their team mined the second highest amount, but because they did not have an autonomous robot, they lost points. Next year, the team plans to modify and create a robot that can function with computer-automated control.
John Robe, a junior in computer engineering, was on the team this year and will be project manager for next year’s team. He was surprised to place so high in the competition and was excited to be at NASA.
“One of the biggest benefits of this competition is that everyone involved in it really gets hands-on building experience and hands-on engineering experience,” he said.
The team will bring their robot to next year’s competition in May and are looking for students from all disciplines to join. If interested, email John Robe at [email protected].
@carolyn_webber