Lunabotics
Wheel design and fabrication for Northeastern SEDS’ rover in the 2026 NASA Lunabotics Competition.
Mechanical design and fabrication
The rover excavated, transported, and deposited simulated lunar regolith. Its mobility system combined a rocker-bogie arrangement with four-wheel swerve drive.
My primary work covered the wheel assemblies. I also contributed to fabrication and assembly of the excavation and conveyor system with the mechanical team.
Responsibilities
- Design and personally fabricate metal wheel assemblies.
- Use sheet-metal bending, riveting, and welding during fabrication.
- Present the wheel design at a Critical Design Review for approval to manufacture.
- Contribute to rover assembly and testing with the mechanical team.
Rim, support, and hub construction
The CDR design uses a segmented aluminum rim with traction features, a central hub, and supports between the hub and rim. The rim sections use bent sheet material, while the hub interfaces with the wheel-drive hardware.
The review material documents waterjet-cut sheet parts, formed rim segments, tubing, and a commercial hub. These drawings describe the CDR concept; the photographs above show the fabricated wheel assemblies.
| Rim | Formed sheet-metal sections |
|---|---|
| Traction features | Grousers around the rim |
| Central assembly | Hub and structural supports |
| Fabrication methods | Bending, riveting, and welding |
Wheel fabrication and assembly
Personally fabricated the wheel assemblies using sheet-metal bending, riveting, and welding. The fabrication photographs show the segmented rim and the wheel after installation of the central support assembly.
Assembly required connecting the rim sections and locating the hub and supports within the wheel. The repeated rim sections produced multiple joints to assemble around the circumference.
| Forming | Bend sheet-metal sections for the rim. |
|---|---|
| Joining | Rivet and weld components within the wheel assembly. |
| Central support | Assemble the hub and support structure within the rim. |
| Rover assembly | Integrate the wheels with the mobility system. |
Wheel and mobility interfaces
The wheels interface with the rover's swerve modules and carry the loaded vehicle during driving and excavation operations. The surrounding drivetrain and suspension are team assemblies.
The mechanical design review considered wheel clearance around the excavation system and operation in simulated regolith. My wheel work formed one part of the complete rover's mobility system.
I also helped build the excavation and conveyor system, which carried up to 70,000 cm³ of simulated regolith.
Competition operation
The fabricated wheels supported the 110 kg loaded rover through full competition runs without wheel failure. The mechanical team built and tested the rover for the 2026 NASA Lunabotics Competition.
Presented the wheel design at a Critical Design Review and received approval to manufacture. Also helped the team secure a competitively awarded $1,000 Northeastern PEAK Experiences Grant.
Completed mechanical project work for the 2025–2026 competition season. CAD figures show the earlier review configuration; fabrication photographs show my wheel assemblies.