The transport system designed by Spaceship EAC addresses the difficulties of transporting regolith under lunar conditions and the requirements given by the CSM. This device consists of a tube with a fixed screw and scoops attached to the lower end. By rotating the tube, the friction with the particles, combined with the inner screw, propels the regolith upwards while the scoops push the regolith into the tube.
An enclosed horizontal belt conveyor was designed, with a funnel that feeds regolith from the hopper onto the conveyor belt, which transports it over the required horizontal distance and transfers it to the vertical transport system. It includes covers for dust mitigation and sieve.
A vertical transport system using Olds Elevator technology, and incorporating sieve in it.
The concept of the Olds Elevator was chosen over other systems for vertical transport due to its ability to mitigate dust during the process. This system not only keeps the regolith sealed during transport, but also keeps the important parts of machinery protected. It also acts as a central node that could potentially receive multiple horizontal transport systems at once.
Abrasion can be avoided with the usage of proper coatings.
A network of IoT devices that will be embedded in the transportation systems, including sensors
collecting data from the physical environment.
The metrics monitored by the sensor nodes will be temperature, dust level, and the regolith level processed by the transportation system
In both horizontal and vertical transport systems proposed, the core principles being used facilitate the division of each element in sub-parts of equal dimentions. For lunar deployment, the mechanisms will not be transported in one piece, but in units. For the horizontal transport, it can be cut in units of about 1m, that can be stacked one next to the other during transit. For the vertical system transport, units of about 0.6m can be used and stacked.
The system presented in this text aims to fill knowledge gaps in regolith transport under lunar
conditions with an innovative approach that takes advantage of the reduced gravity and a modular
approach that allows the creation of a network with a central node, where the vertical transport is executed.
Combined with the simplicity of the conveyor belt, the system presents
an original solution to the problems of transporting lunar regolith.
The system is able to perform its responsibilities over time, even when unexpected events occur.
Different solutions are embedded to our system in order to deal with dust mitigation and rocks' presence.
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