Hi all,
My name is Farrar, and I am working at the School of Mines in Golden. I am working under Dr. Petruska, a professor of engineering at Mines. I am working with him and one of his PhD students, Rich, on a few projects in the robotics lab.
The main project I am working on is assisting with the design of a lunar rover, in cooperation with NASA and Lunar Outpost, a local start-up. I have spent most of this week learning Solidworks, a CAD program. This is to help me design a front-loader bucket attachment, as well as any other parts that may be necessary. Both Petruska and Rich have been on vacation this week, and since they are my main channel through which I learn about what needs to be done for the project, so I have not been able to get much done directly relevant to the project. I have instead spent the majority of my time learning skills that may be useful once I can return to working on the rover.
Additionally, I have been working on attaching a LiDAR camera to a robot known as a Jackal. a LiDAR camera uses a multitude of laser beams to measure the distance between itself and other objects, creating a point cloud that roughly defines its surroundings. I have been experimenting with a few different methods by which to mount the camera. One way was to use 8020 extruded aluminum and corner brackets, but this method is too wide to be feasible given the available mounting points. Another method I am considering is using z-brackets or bent sheet metal in order to mount it in the optimal position. In order to find this position, I had to perform trigonometric functions. The robot is not completely symmetrical, so that position is actually not in the center. This project needs to be done by early July, so I have been on a bit of a time crunch, due to the longer lead times on some components.
On Friday, we got the opportunity to meet with Petruska’s colleague, Dr. Eliasson of the Mining Engineering department. We got a tour of the explosives lab, certified to explode up to the equivalent of 25 grams of TNT. They use this lab to study shockwaves. Also is the gas gun, which tests shockwaves from impacts. The gas gun is in fact a very difficult machine to use, since the timing must be precise. The ultra slow motion camera used can only take 256 frames of footage at once, which due to the high shutter speed, only lasts a fraction of a millisecond. We also got to discuss the experience of being a grad student and doing high-level research with Eliasson over a lunch, which was quite illuminating.
Outside of work, I have done a few bike rides. The longest one was around 15 miles, with 2000+ ft of climbing. I rode from Apex Park, south of Golden, up to the peak of Lookout Mountain, through the Windy Saddle, and down into downtown, and back along the paved trail to the parking lot. My host family, the Turners, got their dog, Remi, back from a training camp last weekend, and I have been playing with and walking her almost every day.
This weekend, I got out on a short ride at Green Mountain, south of Golden, but unfortunately crashed on a loose corner, and reopened a few large wounds on my forearm and hip from a previous spill.
The first photo is of my workstation, with both my Solidworks work and the Jackal pictured. Next is a picture of the explosives lab, then the gas gun. After that is a photo of one of my hosts in a MacKinnon jersey, next to MacKinnon’s stick which was at their country club. Then, a few pretty nature photos, the first two of a beautiful sunset and rainbow, and the next two from my rides. And lastly, dogs!
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