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Design and Development of a Modular Bucket Drum Excavator for Lunar ISRU

Simon Giel, James Hurrell, Shreya Santra, Ashutosh Mishra, Kentaro Uno, Kazuya Yoshida

TL;DR

ISRU-driven lunar exploration requires efficient regolith excavation; this paper develops a modular bucket drum excavator compatible with the MoonBot platform. The design integrates excavation, loading, and haulage in a single tool, using spiral bucketing to minimize material loss and reduce reaction forces. Sandbox experiments quantify storage capacity, continuous and batch excavation rates, and energy per kilogram, with continuous rates around 778 kg/h and Dragon-enabled rates near 839 kg/h. Limitations include absence of sensing and autonomous control, but MoonBot modularity supports alternative architectures and distributed excavation approaches. The work demonstrates a compact, low-maintenance tool with promising system-level potential for lunar ISRU and informs future sensorized and autonomous developments.

Abstract

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is one of the key technologies for enabling sustainable access to the Moon. The ability to excavate lunar regolith is the first step in making lunar resources accessible and usable. This work presents the development of a bucket drum for the modular robotic system MoonBot, as part of the Japanese Moonshot program. A 3D-printed prototype made of PLA was manufactured to evaluate its efficiency through a series of sandbox tests. The resulting tool weighs 4.8 kg and has a volume of 14.06 L. It is capable of continuous excavation at a rate of 777.54 kg/h with a normalized energy consumption of 0.022 Wh/kg. In batch operation, the excavation rate is 172.02 kg/h with a normalized energy consumption of 0.86 Wh per kilogram of excavated material. The obtained results demonstrate the successful implementation of the concept. A key advantage of the developed tool is its compatibility with the modular MoonBot robotic platform, which enables flexible and efficient mission planning. Further improvements may include the integration of sensors and an autonomous control system to enhance the excavation process.

Design and Development of a Modular Bucket Drum Excavator for Lunar ISRU

TL;DR

ISRU-driven lunar exploration requires efficient regolith excavation; this paper develops a modular bucket drum excavator compatible with the MoonBot platform. The design integrates excavation, loading, and haulage in a single tool, using spiral bucketing to minimize material loss and reduce reaction forces. Sandbox experiments quantify storage capacity, continuous and batch excavation rates, and energy per kilogram, with continuous rates around 778 kg/h and Dragon-enabled rates near 839 kg/h. Limitations include absence of sensing and autonomous control, but MoonBot modularity supports alternative architectures and distributed excavation approaches. The work demonstrates a compact, low-maintenance tool with promising system-level potential for lunar ISRU and informs future sensorized and autonomous developments.

Abstract

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is one of the key technologies for enabling sustainable access to the Moon. The ability to excavate lunar regolith is the first step in making lunar resources accessible and usable. This work presents the development of a bucket drum for the modular robotic system MoonBot, as part of the Japanese Moonshot program. A 3D-printed prototype made of PLA was manufactured to evaluate its efficiency through a series of sandbox tests. The resulting tool weighs 4.8 kg and has a volume of 14.06 L. It is capable of continuous excavation at a rate of 777.54 kg/h with a normalized energy consumption of 0.022 Wh/kg. In batch operation, the excavation rate is 172.02 kg/h with a normalized energy consumption of 0.86 Wh per kilogram of excavated material. The obtained results demonstrate the successful implementation of the concept. A key advantage of the developed tool is its compatibility with the modular MoonBot robotic platform, which enables flexible and efficient mission planning. Further improvements may include the integration of sensors and an autonomous control system to enhance the excavation process.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 10 sections, 4 figures, 4 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Works
  3. Methodology
  4. System Overview
  5. Hardware Configuration
  6. Electronics, Software and Control Framework
  7. Experiment Procedure
  8. Results and Analysis
  9. Discussion
  10. Conclusions

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Assembly of the MoonBot in the Dragon configuration with the excavation tool attached to it.
  • Figure 2: Section view of the CAD model of a drum featuring two buckets. Dark green indicates the buckets as separate parts, medium green shows the portions of the buckets that are integrated into the drum, and light green represents the cut surfaces revealed by the section view.
  • Figure 3: Test setup for the initial manual experiments, showing the leveled sand surface in the sandbox, the measuring tape, power and data cables, the unloading platform, and a side-mounted camera for visual monitoring and documentation.
  • Figure 4: Comparison of the time required to excavate different amounts of Tohoku Silica Sand under various test conditions. Linear regression curves were fitted to the data and constrained to pass through the origin (0,0).