Researchers 3D Print Moon Rover Wheel Prototype
Researchers 3D Print Moon Rover Wheel Prototype
Technology Demonstrated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with NASA, are taking additive manufacturing to the final frontier by 3D printing the same kind of wheel as the design used by NASA for its robotic lunar rover, demonstrating the technology for specialized parts needed for space exploration.
“This dramatically increases the production rate with the same amount of laser power. We’re only scratching the surface of what the system can do.”
Peter Wang, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The additively manufactured wheel was modeled on the existing, light-weight wheels of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, a mobile robot NASA plans to send in 2024 to map ice and other potential resources at the south pole of the moon. The mission is intended to help determine the origin and distribution of the moon’s water and whether enough could be harvested from the moon’s surface to support people living there.
While the prototype wheel printed at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at ORNL will not actually be used on the NASA Moon mission, it was created to meet the same design specifications as the wheels made for NASA’s VIPER. Additional testing is planned to validate the design and fabrication method before using this technology for future lunar or Mars rovers or considering it for other space applications, such as large structural components.
The printer used for the rover wheel prototype is large enough for a person to enter and is unique in its ability to print large objects while the manufacturing steps occur simultaneously and continuously, said Peter Wang, who leads MDF development of new laser powder bed fusion systems.
“This dramatically increases the production rate with the same amount of laser power,” he said, adding that deposition occurs 50% faster. “We’re only scratching the surface of what the system can do. I really think this is going to be the future of laser powder bed printing, especially at large scale and in mass production.” Wang and project team members recently published a study, found here, analyzing the scalability of the technology for printing components like electric motors.
Although the machine is unique, a key to the success of the project was researchers’ expertise in process automation and machine control. They used software developed at ORNL to “slice” the wheel design into vertical layers, then balance the workload between the two lasers to print evenly, achieving a high production rate, leveraging a computational technique recently submitted for patent protection.
The prototype wheel, one of the first parts produced by the system, demonstrates the value of interagency collaboration. “The project with NASA really propelled the technology forward,” said Brian Gibson, the researcher who led the rover wheel project for ORNL, calling it a milestone. “It was great to connect a capability with a developing need, and the team was excited to be making a prototype component with space exploration applications.”
NASA plans to test the 3D-printed wheel’s performance on a rover either in the rock yard at NASA’s Johnson Space Center or in a giant “sandbox” of simulated lunar rocks and soil at a contracted test facility. Evaluators will assess the wheel’s maneuverability, pivoting resistance, sideways slippage, slope climbing and other performance metrics.