Have you ever wanted hardware that was good enough for the simulated rigors of the lunar environment? Perhaps not, but Automation Direct may fit the bill; by using a DL06 PLC!

Our robot “Attila” is an automated excavation robot that competed in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge, part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges program. The competition took place on October 18-19, 2009.

The goal of the challenge was to excavate 150 kilograms of simulated lunar regolith (moon dirt) using under 80 kilograms worth of hardware within 30 minutes. Attila managed to excavate moon dirt during its official competition attempt, but a limit switch bug caused it not to reverse to the correct position before dumping its load, so no load was officially collected.

Some pictures of Attila from the competition:

Here’s a video of Attila in action (testing fully automated mode):
http://www.youtube.com/v/PpriVF4tGok

For more info about the project check out: attilarobot.com

Attila will also be competing in the upcoming NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition in May of 2010.

Filed under: Projects