NASA Minority Innovation Challenges Institute (MICI)

The NASA Minority Innovation Challenges Institute broadcast a live interview n May 25, 2010 with Anthony Gantt (right), a Florida A&M student who was a member of a University team that entered the NASA Lunabotics competition.  Dr. Clement Allen (left) , a professor at Florida A&M interviewed Anthony and opened the session up to questions from the audience.  Below is a sample of various questions that were asked by students and faculty members.  To listen to Anthony’s responses please register with MICI and enter the NASA MICI Conference site by visiting NASAMICIconference.com .   NASA MICI would like to thank Anthony, and congratulate he and his team in successfully entering this nationwide university contest.

QUESTIONS FROM STUDENTS AND FACULTY

* How do you go about making a machine with slithering locomotion?

* Are you provided with a sample of the lunar simulant and, if not, how do you test the robot in an environment with abrasive soil

* what was your budget?

* what was your team strength?

* How many members?

* Are there any non-STEM majors on the team?

* Did you guys split to different sections? Like a group working on electronics, one group on mechanics?

* Was there a written part? If so, how did you balance building a robot with writing a report?

* Did you guys do the final run of the machine in a lunar environment?

* can you explain about your machine a little bit? like did you guys have independent drives on the wheel? Like an independent motor for each wheel? Is a video available?

* Did they add a radio delay, to simulate controling this device from Earth?

* Did the materials used had to meet with any specifications? Like rubber belt used….wouldn’t that melt in real lunar environment?

* what was the worst challenge your team had in building the robot?

* worst challenge in mechanical terms?

* do you believe that class room studies really help? I’m a sophomore and i don’t see any connection with real world mechanics yet. . Was that the same for you?

* Were there any differences in experience (year-wise) among your team members? How do you handle the type of work each member can do?

* Did the electrical in your robot use solar power with a battery? or just battery power?

* Did you have to shield any of your electrics against cosmic radiation, just to simulate a real robot

* Was there a minimum motion speed needed for the robot or was it  just the collection speed.

* the obstacles were they like big rocks? what was the ground clearance of the collection devise from the ground? Was it given as part of the specification?

The Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation, Inc. (CAFE) recently announced that it has 30 teams registered for its NASA sponsored 2011 Green Flight Challenge.  These 30 teams include 14 different University sponsored teams.  The 2011 Challenge will be conducted from July 10 to July 17, 2011 by CAFE at the CAFE Flight Test Center at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California.  The competition features a top prize of $1.5 million.

According to the CAFE website a current list of registered competitors is as follows:

1. Richard P. Anderson, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
2. Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, Kansas University
3. Ronald Blum, Hawker-Beechcraft
4. Phillipe Bonnefoy, M.I.T.
5. Ivo Boscarol, Pipistrel
6. Andy Chiavetta, Aerochia Racing
7. Greg Cole—Windward Performance
8. Neil Cosentino, SOLOS Team
9. Dr. Jack Langelaan Ph.D.,Penn State University
10. Einar Enevoldson, PC Aero
11. Phillipe Masson Florida State University
12. Steffen Geinitz, Hydrogenius, University of Stuttgart
13. Calin Gogolan, PC Aero
14. Jerry Gregorek, Ohio State University
15. John Hansman, M.I.T.
16. Jean N. Koster, University of Colorado
17. Kansas University School of Engineering
18. Joachim L. Grenestedt, Lehigh University
19. Tyler MacCready, Aerovironment
20. Rob McDonald, Cal Poly, SLO
21. John McGinnis, Synergy
22. Nathan Pedrick, Elite Aero
23. Tine Tomazic Pipistrel
24. Norman H. Radtke, , Xenos
25. Clayton Ruszkowski, University of Saskatchewan
26. Gene Sheehan, Fueling Advanced Technologies
27. Cindy Singer, Bye Aerospace
28. Cornelis van Dam, UC Davis
29. Ben Harvey, Magnadynetronix
30. Oleg Nickolayev, Hybrid Air

For more information about the Green Flight Challenge visit: http://cafefoundation.org/v2/gfc_main.php

In an effort to maximize its outreach, MICI has established a presence on several different social media outlets. We’d really like to connect with you in whatever medium(s) you use most often. To reach MICI on:

FACEBOOK – visit: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115530438470501&ref=ts
TWITTER – visit: http://twitter.com/NASAMICI
LINKED IN – visit: visit: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2984791

The Minority Innovation Challenges Institute would like to congratulate the University of Puerto Rico on their first place finish in NASA’s Great Moonbuggy Race.  The event was held on April 9th and 10th at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.  It challenges students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered buggies that tackle many of the same engineering challenges dealt with by Apollo-era lunar rover developers at the Marshall Center in the late 1960s.

The University of Puerto Rico in Humacao — the only school in the world to enter a moonbuggy in every race since the event was founded in 1994 captured second place last year and won first place this year.  The team posted a winning time of 4 minutes 18 seconds, which brought home the trophy and a cash prize of $5,700.

The moonbuggy race is inspired by the original lunar rover, first piloted across the moon’s surface in the early 1970s during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. The first race, held in 1994, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. At the time, the event was only open to college teams, and eight participated. Two years later, the event was expanded to include high school teams.  The total number of teams exceed 70 this year.

Buen trabajo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, de tus amigos en la NASA MICI!

(Good job University of Puerto Rico, from your friends at NASA MICI!)