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Three student teams from South Dakota State University have advanced to the finals of two different NASA contests in the coming weeks. All are mechanical engineering students.

The Gateways to Blue Skies competition advanced eight teams to Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, May 20-21.

This year’s Blue Skies theme is “AgAir: Aviation Solutions for Agriculture,â€� which asked students to research new or improved aviation solutions to support agriculture. The contest goal was purposefully open-ended to give plenty of room for creativity.

The º£½ÇÖ±²¥app team of Nathan Kuehl, Avoca, Minnesota; Laura Peterson, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Keegan Visher, of Excelsior, Minnesota; and Nick Wolles, of Dell Rapids, will be competing against entries from Auburn, Boston University, Columbia University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Houston Community College, University of California-Davis and the University of Tulsa.

The seniors, who all graduate May 10, designed an unmanned aerial vehicle with sensors allowing it to take soil samples and snip off a leaf to bring it back to the lab for analysis.

Because NASA was looking for technology that could be in place within 10 years, it was important that the project not be too distant from today’s reality, but also something that showed an advance in technology.

The students plan to have a functional prototype with them when they fly out to Armstrong Flight Research Center. Kuehl said, “NASA has said there are no brownie points for a building a prototype, but we want to have it anyway.� Peterson added, “Plus, it’s easier to explain our project when we have a prototype.�

Like every entry, the students did produce a two-minute video of their project, including computer animation of the drone in action. 

It can be accessed at: .

This is the fourth year for the Gateways to Blue Skies competition. Each team receives $8,000 to cover travel costs to the finals, and members of the winning team earn an internship at NASA. 

Two teams in RASC-AL competition

Both of º£½ÇÖ±²¥app’s entries in the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept-Academic Linkage contest were selected for the finals of the small lunar servicing and maintenance robot division in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 2-4. 

A total of 14 teams were selected in three divisions. 

In the small lunar servicing and maintenance robot division, students were tasked with designing a servicing and maintenance robot of less than 500 kilograms for use on the lunar surface to supplement crew time by performing tasks such as connecting umbilical, or cable, connectors, swapping payloads, inspecting systems and monitoring the lunar environment.

This is the first time º£½ÇÖ±²¥app has had two finalists in RASC-AL. In fact, it is the first time º£½ÇÖ±²¥app had two entries in the contest. Letcher has traditionally entered a team from his senior design class, a capstone course. This year younger students approached him about getting involved in aerospace design and Letcher obliged.

The younger group is comprised of two juniors and seven freshmen. They are: Bryson Love, freshman, Charlestown, Indiana; Channing Bloedel, freshman, Rapid City; Tyler Iverson, junior, Le Mars, Iowa; Addison Walz, junior, Albertville, Minnesota; Evan Lauters, freshman, Hawarden, Iowa; Noah Larson, freshman, Mitchell; Aiden DeWit, freshman, Sioux Falls; Gavin Neu, freshman, Canton; and Noah Richardson, freshman, Omaha, Nebraska.

The senior design team is composed of Cameron Belair, Minneapolis; Mike Gross, Woodbury, Minnesota; and Quentin Strohm, Ames, Iowa.

NOVA specifics

The younger group, which is known as “NOVA: Next-gen Operations and Versatile Assistant,â€� looks completely different from the rover made by the senior design group.

However, Letcher said, “Some of the same concepts rose to the top with both projects, so that tells me they must be pretty good concepts. The biggest difference is the arms and how the teams have decided to perform the tasks NASA asked for.�

Tyler Iverson, a junior who serves a team lead, said, “We designed a multi-arm system that specializes in heavy lifting and finer functions along with a forklift system to help with heavier payloads. The forklift can lift 1,200 kilograms (2,645 pounds), and its big arm reaches 4 meters.�

MANTIS specifics

The senior design team, known as “MANTIS: Maintenance and Navigation for Technical Infrastructure Support,� is working on a quarter-scale prototype of their rover, which would be 2 meters by 2 meters and 3 meters high if built to full scale.

Strohm said, “We’re trying to make ours completely unique and not like anything that has been up on the lunar surface before.� One aspect of that is the umbilical, or cable, connectors. “Previously the connecting of cables was always done by hand. Using a connector on the rover is unique.�

Another unique aspect is its ability to lift 1,000 kilograms with loader arms that give it the appearance of a praying mantis.

While they explore aerospace possibilities, the practicalities of finances will have the teams traveling to Cocoa Beach via paved highways because of challenges in shipping their prototypes in past years. 

Each finalist team receives a $6,500 stipend. The top two overall winning teams will be invited to present their design projects to industry experts at a major aerospace conference in 2025.