Next Brown Bag Luncheon Seminar Features Chris Follette Discussing his Summer Internship at Honeybee Robotics
The fall semester Brown Bag Seminar Series features graduate students providing presentations on their current research and recent internships. The series continues on Wednesday, October 8th, featuring grad student Chris Follette presenting “Honeybee Robotics, My Summer 2014 Internship”
This series of presentations will be held in the Space Studies Library at noon. Lunch will be served. All grad students are expected to attend.
About the topic: This summer I had the opportunity to intern for a great engineering firm, Honeybee Robotics. The company is based out of New York City and has two satellite offices in Denver, CO and Pasadena, CA. While at the Pasadena branch, I was able to work hands on with prototype space mechanisms daily. Some of these space mechanisms include the LITA drill, a rotary percussive 1-meter sampling drill able to be deployed from a rover or a lander, the next generation Rock Abrasion Tool, a grinding tool that was placed into service on the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, among numerous other sample acquisition systems and prospective drilling apparatuses. During the presentation I will also give a brief history of the company, along with how I foresee this experience assisting in the completion of my planned thesis. With the help of Dr. de Leon, I plan to create a larger and more robust planetary rover able to assist in human exploration of the Martian and Lunar landscapes. This rover will allow for an enhanced EVA experience of the astronauts during the simulated missions run at UND.
About the presenter: Chris Follette is from Crookston, Minnesota and received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University. During his late high school and early college years, Chris was a research assistant at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center, located on the University of Minnesota, Crookston campus, assisting with agricultural entomology research. During his later years at NDSU, Chris was involved with the SAE Mini Baja team that engineered and manufactured an off-road racing vehicle that competed at the national competition in Bellingham, WA. At this time, Chris was also working as a mechanical engineering intern with Integrity Windows and Doors. After graduation in December of 2013, he came to the University of North Dakota to pursue his M.S in Space Studies degree. During the spring of 2014, with the help of Dr. de Leon, Chris created a proof-of-concept remote controlled rover that worked to assist “Mars-onauts” at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah. This small rover utilized a live-feed camera that allowed the participants to view and maneuver outside the habitat without the need for an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). This rover was also able to perform small scale reconnaissance missions, looking for interesting locations and potentially dangerous situations. This information would enhance the participant’s knowledge of the surrounding area prior to an EVA. During the summer of 2014, with the help of Dr. de Leon and the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium, Chris began a mechanical engineering internship with Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena, CA. Upon his return, Chris has been working with Dr. de Leon preparing for the 30 day analog mission and taking courses on campus.
For information on the Brown Bag Seminar Series, please contact Space Studies faculty member Dr. Vadim Rygalov.
