Robotics team to teach first graders lunar mining

First graders at Ben Franklin Elementary School in Grand Forks will become “moon mining experts” after a three-day lesson from a team of UND mechanical and electrical engineering and computer science students Monday through Wednesday.

The team is currently working on the design and construction of a robot to enter in NASA’s Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in May. The purpose of the competition is to simulate an unmanned mission to the moon that mines the lunar surface.

Another aspect of the competition is to do an outreach project that will excite and educate the local community about science, robotics, and engineering. To achieve this goal, the UND students will be presenting a 3-lesson series about different aspects of lunar missions to several classes of first graders at Ben Franklin Elementary School March 7-9. Rockets, the lunar environment, weightlessness, the lunar surface, and what astronauts will need to survive if a lunar base were to be established will be covered in the lessons.

NASA’s lunar mining competition teams must also design a wirelessly-controlled robot that meets given size and weight parameters and is capable of collecting and depositing a minimum of 10 kilograms of simulated lunar soil within 15 minutes. Over 60 teams from around the world will be competing.

For more information, contact Cheryl Osowski, outreach coordinator, School of Engineering and Mines, at 777-3390 or cheryl.osowski@engr.und.edu.

— School of Engineering and Mines.