Meteorite Collection Mechanism for Autonomous Antarctic Robot

The goal of this project is to design, build, and test a meteorite collection system for an autonomous Antarctic robot. More than 60% of meteorites found on Earth are found in Antarctica, but climate change is causing the meteorites to become increasingly inaccessible. The autonomous robot aims to search for, identify, and collect meteorites. The proposed collection mechanism uses a slot linkage powered by a linear actuator to open and close two scoop-shaped jaws. A test stand composed of a linear actuator and a sliding plate was used to raise and lower the gripper during testing. The mechanism was tested with rocks of various sizes to simulate meteorites. The gripper successfully retrieved every rock during testing. However, in 24% of the trials, the gripper picked up the rock by pinching it between its jaws rather than scooping it. To reduce damage to the meteorites, the mechanism aims to collect meteorites without applying force to them. It was determined that the gripper's ability to scoop the rock rather than pinch it was largely caused by the height at which it was collecting the meteorite. Future improvements will be aimed at minimizing the forces on the smaller sized meteorites by eliminating the possibility of pinching.