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.
Stay up-to-date with MRDT: marsrover.mst.edu

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