Our Design Teams

This year, the ASME Student Design Club will be participating in three competitions: the ASME Student Design Competition (SDC), the ASME Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge (IAM3D), and the NASA Lunabotics Challenge. Similar to last year, each team will be working now until the end of the academic school year when the competitions take place. The Lunabotics Team enters their 2nd year of design where they hope to use last years preparation to compete this year in the challenge.

With growing teams and new opportunities arising, the ASME Student Design Club appreciates any support that you give. There is a lot that goes into these projects including materials, parts, and most importantly, time. Team members strive each year to be as successful as they can by getting help from each other, the engineering department, and donors like you. Thank you!

Here is more information about what each team will be doing this year.

The Lunabotics Team is continuing to advance their rover-like robot, called a lunabot, designed to simulate a Lunar construction robot capable of excavating and transporting regolith (moon dust). Building on last year’s design and analysis, the team is now preparing to compete for the first time in this year’s NASA Lunabotics Challenge. Their lunabot will be engineered to dig, transport, and deposit the regolith to construct a berm, mirroring real tasks required for future lunar missions. This year’s focus is on refining the mechanical systems, improving control and mobility, and testing the robot with simulated lunar material to ensure competition readiness. Funding will directly support the machining of aluminum components, electronic systems, and purchase of testing materials, helping the team turn last year’s groundwork into a fully competitive and functional lunabot ready for NASA’s challenge.

SDC Last Year Results: 3rd place out of 18 schools!

The SDC Team is challenged to design, fabricate, and test a versatile waste collection device capable navigating a model city. The device must handle various terrains, identify and collect garbage and recyclables, and transport them to the correct disposal sites while following traffic and safety laws. Having gained experience in this kind of design from previous projects, the SDC team is ready to take on this year’s more complex task with efficiency and determination to win. Funding will directly support the fabrication of prototypes, sensor integration, and testing of navigation systems, helping our team engineer a system that combines speed, precision, and sustainability.

IAM3D Last Year's Results: 2nd place out of 13 schools!

The IAM3D team is switching gears this year going from building a drone to manufacture a 3D printed ROVER capable of gathering multiple resources for the construction of a simulated research and habitation base. The design emphasizes the use of additive manufacturing for as many components as possible and incorporates an FPV (First-Person View) control system to remotely operate the vehicle. Building on their previous drone experience, the IAM3D team brings valuable knowledge in lightweight design, 3D printing optimization, and remote control systems. This year’s competition pushes them to expand those skills into a more advanced, multifunctional vehicle. Donor contributions will fund advanced printing materials necessary for iterative design, electronic components, and testing setups, helping our team bring this ROVER to life.