Lunar excavation and projectile transport systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11828178-B2
Application number	US-202217842137-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2022
Priority date	Jun 17, 2021
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

A lunar excavation and projectile transport system includes a projectile launcher having a base and a throwing arm and a projectile catcher. The throwing arm is rotatably coupled to the base and arranged at a mounting angle relative to a central axis defined by the base. The mounting angle defines a lunch angle for a processed core sample that is launched from within the throwing arm during rotation of the throwing arm by an electric motor. The projectile catcher includes a storage body, a plurality of telescoping arms coupled to the storage body, and a fabric wrapped around each of the plurality of telescoping arms to define a catching volume within which the processed core sample launched by the projectile launcher is caught.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lunar excavation and projectile transport system for harvesting icy regolith from below a lunar surface, the lunar excavation and projectile transport system comprising:
a core drill assembly including:
a drilling platform including a plurality of drill wheels rotatably coupled to the drilling platform and a guide plate including a plurality of guide holes extending through the guide plate and arranged in a array pattern;
a tower crane supported on the drilling platform; and
an ultrasonic drill coupled to the tower crane so that the ultrasonic drill is configured to selectively move a vertical direction toward and away from the guide plate;

a rover including a body, a plurality of rover wheels coupled to the body, and a dump bed pivotally coupled to the body;
a projectile launcher including a base and a throwing arm, wherein the throwing arm is rotatably coupled to the base and arranged at a mounting angle relative to a central axis defined by the base, wherein the mounting angle defines a lunch angle for a processed core sample that is launched from within the throwing arm during rotation of the throwing arm by an electric motor; and
a projectile catcher including a storage body, a plurality of telescoping arms coupled to the storage body, and a fabric wrapped around each of the plurality of telescoping arms to define a catching volume within which the processed core sample launched by the projectile launcher is caught.

2. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of guide holes includes a keyed notch recess, and an outer casing of the ultrasonic drill includes a keyed notch extension extending axially along a length of the outer casing.

3. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 2 , wherein when the keyed notch extension is received within a respective one of the keyed notch recesses, the outer casing is prevented from rotating.

4. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein the tower crane includes a mast and a crane beam coupled to a distal end of the mast, the crane beam including a drill carriage that is linearly movable along the crane beam and coupled to the ultrasonic drill.

5. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 4 , wherein the tower crane includes a crane actuator that is configured to rotate the crane beam relative to the guide plate.

6. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 4 , wherein the ultrasonic drill is coupled to the drill carriage by a wireline that extends from a within the drill carriage.

7. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein the dump bed is coupled to a dump bed actuator that is configured to selectively pivot the dump bed relative to the body between a stowed position and a dump position.

8. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein the base includes a plurality of legs rotatably coupled to a cylindrical portion.

9. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of legs is a telescoping leg that is coupled to a leg actuator, the leg actuators being configured to selectively adjust an operating height of the throwing arm.

10. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein the projectile launcher includes a rotational speed sensor and a rotational encoder, the rotational speed sensor being configured to measure a speed of the electric motor and the rotational encoder being configured to measure a rotational position of the throwing arm.

11. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein the projectile launcher includes a notched wheel arranged at a distal end of the throwing arm, the notched wheel including a plurality of protrusions.

12. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 11 , wherein the notched wheel is coupled to a release actuator that is configured to selectively move the plurality of protrusions to selectively block and unblock the processed core sample within the throwing arm.

13. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 1 , wherein when the notched wheel unblocks the processed core sample, the processed core sample is launched from the throwing arm.

14. A lunar excavation and projectile transport system for harvesting icy regolith from below a lunar surface, the lunar excavation and projectile transport system comprising:
a core drill assembly including:
a drilling platform including a plurality of drill wheels rotatably coupled to the drilling platform and a guide plate including a plurality of guide holes extending through the guide plate and arranged in a array pattern;
a tower crane supported on the drilling platform; and
an ultrasonic drill coupled to the tower crane so that the ultrasonic drill is configured to selectively move a vertical direction toward and away from the guide plate;

a rover including a body, a plurality of rover wheels coupled to the body, and a dump bed pivotally coupled to the body;
a projectile launcher including a base, a throwing arm, and a release mechanism, wherein the throwing arm is rotatably coupled to the base and an electric motor is coupled to the throwing arm and configured to selectively rotate the throwing arm at a predefined rotational speed, wherein the throwing arm is mounted to the base so that the throwing arm is arranged at a predefined launch angle relative to the base, and wherein the release mechanism includes a protrusion that is configured to selectively unblock a processed core sample within the throwing arm during rotation of the throwing arm to launch the processed core sample from the throwing arm; and
a projectile catcher including a storage body, a plurality of telescoping arms coupled to the storage body, and a fabric wrapped around each of the plurality of telescoping arms to define a catching volume within which the processed core sample launched by the projectile launcher is caught.

15. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 14 , wherein the protrusion is arranged on a notched wheel that is mounted at a distal end of the throwing arm.

16. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 15 , wherein the notched wheel is coupled to a release actuator that is configured to selectively move the protrusion to selectively unblock the processed core sample within the throwing arm.

17. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 14 , wherein the base includes a plurality of legs rotatably coupled to a cylindrical portion.

18. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 17 , and wherein each of the plurality of legs is a telescoping leg that is coupled to a leg actuator, the leg actuators being configured to selectively adjust an operating height of the throwing arm.

19. The lunar excavation and projectile transport system of claim 14 , wherein the projectile launcher includes a rotational speed sensor and a rotational encoder, the rotational speed sensor being configured to measure a speed of the electric motor and the rotational encoder being configured to measure a rotational position of the throwing arm.

20. A method of excavating and transporting icy regolith, the method comprising:
drilling a core sample from below a lunar surface with an ultrasonic drill;
depositing the core sample within a dump bed of a rover;
navigating the rover to a processi

Assignees

• Oshkosh Corp

Inventors

• Kotenberg Annelise
• Bare Alex
• Becker Christian
• Charniak Mark
• Hassman Zac
• Klaameyer Jacob
• Winter Nick

Classifications

• E21C51/00 Primary

  Apparatus for, or methods of, winning materials from extraterrestrial sources (cosmonautics B64G) · CPC title

• B64G1/16

  Extraterrestrial cars · CPC title

• E21B7/24 Primary

  Drilling using vibrating or oscillating means, e.g. out-of-balance masses (percussion drilling E21B1/00) · CPC title

• E21B41/00

  Equipment or details not covered by groups E21B15/00 - E21B40/00 · CPC title