Hello everyone, my name is Eric Leavitt and I am an intern for Team Omega Envoy. I am going to give you all a brief update as to what we have done lately!

The most exciting occurrence of late is that we FINALLY have a wheel completed to the point that is actually turns at our command! This is a major milestone. Once we work out all the bugs, the other three wheels, and the latest rover prototype, will follow quickly! The rover wheel is currently capable of forward and reverse motion. It can also be set to various speeds of rotation, and can be commanded to drive a particular distance, all using our Labview VI program.

Secondly, we have recently taken several steps to completing our Lunar Regolith Tilt Table. We have built a pair of benches from which we can stand on and work with the interior portions of the table. We’ve also recently built up the sides of the table, just to insure our precious faux lunar regolith doesn’t come pouring over the side. We have also built in a chain safety system. This will allow us to rotate the table to any desired tilt angle and lock it in place, hopefully preventing any unfortunate accidents. Some of the last things needed to be done are the installation of an automatic rotation mechanism, and the construction of an isolation room around the table. The automatic rotation mechanism should allow precise settings of the angle of the table, allowing us to do some very nice testing of the rover. The isolation room is to prevent the lunar regolith from escaping into the air around the table, as breathing in the dust can be quite dangerous.

Thanks for reading, and wish us luck!

Eric D. Leavitt