M​issouri S&T
Mars Rover Design Team

Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

About

The Missouri S&T Mars Rover Design Team (MRDT) was established in 2012 to compete in the University Rover Challenge (URC) hosted by The Mars Society. URC expects rovers to perform a number of tasks in the southern Utah desert in conditions analogous to those that would be expected in and around colonies on Mars.
 More info on MRDT

Lead Electrical Hardware Architect  |  Duties

  • ​managed, trained, and mentored a subteam of engineering students
  • reviewed and offered constructive feedback on all electrical system designs, as well as many nonelectrical system designs
  • managed integration of multiple electrical and nonelectrical subsystems
  • participated in competition strategy and logistics conversations
  • designed, fabricated, and tested custom PCBs for communication, power management, and digital/analog sensing applications

Selected Projects

URC 2016 Robotic Arm designer, tester

  • Arm Control Board
    • custom PCB
    • position sensor data aggregation and filtering (x6)
    • motor & servo control (x6)
    • robust power input/output
    • active overcurrent/overvoltage monitoring & protection
  • Gripper Control Board
    • custom PCB
    • custom SMPS motor output to improve strength & efficiency

URC 2016 Power System co-designer, co-tester

  • Power Board
    • 4 layer, custom PCB
    • Input: 28 - 34 V, 200 A peak
    • Output: input voltage, 40 A peak (x6)
      ​              12 V, 40 A peak
      ​              5 V, 20 A peak
  • Battery Management System
    • Active battery monitoring
    • Active & passive overcurrent protection

Gallery