How to Enter Phase 2

Team Registration is closed

All registered Teams must submit Level 1 submissions by the November 4th, 2022 deadline.

Phase 2 Submission

All registered Teams must submit Level 1 submissions by the November 4th, 2022 deadline.

Teams will deliver their Phase 2: Level 1 Submission through the Challenge submission form.

For some submission elements, teams will fill out a form field with a character limit; for other elements, teams will upload one or more attachments. The limits for submission elements are summarized in the table below.

Level 1 Submission Elements

The first set of submissions will be used to ensure that teams have a compliant design for their proposed equipment and test area.

Level 1 Deliverables

The following Level 1 deliverables will be evaluated by the Judging Panel in the order they are received to determine whether they are compliant with the requirements detailed in the rules document. Each Team Lead will then be notified regarding their compliance status. This evaluation of Level 1 deliverables and Team compliance notification will take at least two full weeks from submission.

If a team is considered not compliant, they will be notified of the areas of design that require additional attention. If the deadline for Level 1 submission has not passed, non-compliant teams may then resubmit Level 1 deliverables for further assessment and evaluation. There is no limit on the number of times a team may resubmit material before the Level 1 submission deadline (November 4, 2022). However, each submission requires at least two full weeks for evaluation by the Judging Panel.

Submission Title:

This title may be displayed on the competition website and other media post-submission.

Team Information:

Teams must submit a Curriculum Vitae and headshot for each Team Member.

Technical Abstract:

Provide a brief description of the excavation and transportation system(s). Focus on delivering a compelling overview so that the Judging Panel members assigned to score your application will want to read more. This is your opportunity to make a strong first impression, so make every word count!

Intellectual Property:

Teams must explain who owns the intellectual property of the proposed system. If the system is built on existing or off-the-shelf technology, teams should detail the permissions (if applicable) they have to use that technology. If a team is part of an organization, the submission should indicate which team members own the intellectual property.

Team Introduction Video:

Teams must submit a short video to introduce the Team. This video can also optionally summarize the team’s plans for Phase 2.

Detailed Design Report:

This report must detail the Team’s terrestrial analog full-scale prototypes of robotic icy regolith excavation and transportation systems. This report must address the suitability of the design for lunar conditions and how the design complies with the Equipment Design Requirements (see Phase 2 Rules document Section 3.2.3)

  • Report must provide a summary description of the conceptual design for the following subsystems:
    • Electrical
    • Mechanical
    • Power
    • Thermal
    • Communication
    • Software
  • Report must provide a detailed description of the following subsystems, that is sufficient to understand the design intent for the systems that are being tested in the durability demonstration:
    • Excavation
    • Regolith movement/conveyance
    • Mobility and Traction

CAD Models and/or Drawings

3D CAD models or 2D drawings of the full-scale prototypes of robotic icy-regolith excavation and transportation systems must be included. These models/drawings may utilize simple placeholders for any sensitive or proprietary design details that a team wishes to keep internal. However, the overall length, width, and height of systems and equipment must be shown.

Durability Demonstration Test Plan:

This document must detail the Team’s plans for performing a long-term durability demonstration of their working prototype system. The test plan must include the following details:

  • Planned durability demonstration site address and entry instructions
  • Primary and backup points of contact for judging staff entry into demonstration site (name, title, email address, phone number)
  • Planned demonstration start date and planned schedule of high-level tests
  • Plans for operating of each piece of prototype equipment over the 15 day test period.
  • Plans for creating and placing regolith simulant, including a simulant mixture design and sketch of the deposit geometry.
  • Proposed drawing of transportation demonstration area layout, including applicable excavation location, delivery location, and path of travel in-between
  • Plans for delivery location including transfer and weighing of transported regolith simulant material
  • Plans and justification for emulating physical and environmental details of anticipated lunar surface
  • Plans for creating transportation demonstration area
  • Planned runtime for each piece of prototype equipment (excavator, transporter, etc.)
  • Planned distance traversed by each piece of prototype equipment
  • Planned amount of icy regolith simulant to excavate and transport
  • Planned flow rate (kg per hour, kg per day, etc) and trip frequency (trips per hour, trips per day, etc.) of regolith simulant into simulated Water Extraction Plant
  • Planned spare parts, if any
  • Tools and equipment and plans for repair and maintenance of each piece of prototype robotic equipment
  • Tools and equipment and plans for repair and maintenance of Transportation Demonstration Area
  • Plans for recharging and/or battery swapping
  • Plans for data collection and video streaming

Legal and other required documentation:

As described in Section 4 of the Phase 2 rules document and the eligibility requirements document.

 
 

Summary of Level 1 Submission Elements Limits

Phase 2 Submission Level 1 Element

Form Field Character Limit

Narrative Page* Limit

Limit on Attachments

(such as data files, illustrations, video, etc.)

Submission Title

~5 words / 30 characters

Technical Abstract

~250 words / 1,500 characters

Intellectual Property

~50 words / 300 characters

Team Information

25 pages* in Portable Document Format (PDF)

Team Introduction video

Maximum of four (4) minutes uploaded to an online platform that should be accessible by judges.

Legal and other required documentation

100 words / 500 characters

25 pages in Portable Document Format (PDF)

Detailed Design Report

25 pages

CAD models/drawings

3D CAD model and 2D drawings viewable in freely available CAD viewer

Durability Demonstration Test Plan

25 pages

Layout Drawing of Transportation Demonstration Area

A single sheet PDF drawing that when printed full sized is no larger than an E size Drawing format.

* A “page” is defined as Letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches) with 12 point font (Times New Roman) and one-inch margins. Information contained in any excess pages beyond the page limit will be ignored.

Level 2 Deliverables

Durability Demonstration Test Report:

This document must detail the Team’s long-term durability demonstration of their working prototype system. This document must include the following details:

  • Demonstration start date, duration, and as-run schedule of tests
  • Sequence for operating and exercising each piece of prototype equipment
  • Description of any changes in the Demonstration Test Plan from that submitted in Level 1
  • Description of any changes to the prototype robot design submitted in Level 1.
  • Photos of each major piece of hardware and equipment performing normal operations
  • Log of parts replaced, breakdowns, issues requiring human intervention, along with job-hours spent on repairs on the prototype icy regolith excavation and transportation equipment.
  • Log of any maintenance or repair of the Transportation Demonstration Area
  • Post demonstration inspection results
  • Details of icy regolith simulant bed used in demonstration:
    • mixture design
    • certified compressive strength test report at the beginning and end of the 15 day test period
    • geometry sketch
  • The following information shall be provided in a table:
    • Mass (kg) of each piece of equipment, including spare parts (whether used or not) and repair and maintenance tools (whether used or not), plus total system mass (kg)
    • Energy used by each piece of prototype icy regolith excavation and transportation equipment (kWh), plus total system energy (kWh)
      • Not counting energy used during repair and maintenance of prototype icy regolith excavation and transportation equipment nor repair and maintenance of transportation demonstration area.
    • Runtime (hours) of each piece of equipment, plus total system runtime, plus total number of icy regolith excavation and transportation robots
    • Total distance traversed (km) by icy-regolith transportation equipment, plus total number of icy-regolith transportation equipment round trips between simulated Excavation Site and simulated Water Extraction Plant
    • Total mass (kg) of icy regolith simulant excavated and delivered
      • Any material processed by the excavation equipment which is not also transported and delivered by the transportation equipment will not count towards the team’s score.
      • Daily (at the end of each 24 hour period) log of the mass of simulated icy regolith delivered

Durability Demonstration Time-Lapse Video:

This video must show a minimum of 3 full cycles of excavation, transportation, and delivery from each piece of equipment recorded during the Team’s long-term durability demonstration of their working prototype system. For equipment operating continuously without discrete cycles, a minimum of 2 hours of operation from that equipment is acceptable.

Safety analysis:

This document must identify any potentially hazardous material or other safety concerns related to the terrestrial analog full-scale prototypes. This safety analysis must specifically consider future possible transport and operation of your equipment in a test facility (NASA or other) and potential interactions with humans (i.e. Centennial Challenges judging staff).

Summary of Level 2 Submission Elements Limits

Phase 2 Submission Level 2 Submission Element

Form Field Character Limit

Narrative Page* Limit

Limit on Attachments

(such as data files, illustrations, video, etc.)

Durability Demonstration Test Report

30 pages

A PDF with photos of each major piece of hardware and equipment performing normal operations that is less than 25 MB

Durability demonstration time-lapse video

Maximum of four (4) minutes uploaded to an online platform that should be accessible by judges.

Live feed of testing**

A link to an online streaming platform that is accessible by the judges.

Safety Analysis

3 pages

*A “page” is defined as Letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches) with 12 point font (Times New Roman) and one-inch margins. Information contained in any excess pages beyond the page limit will be ignored.
**Note that the link to the live feed testing must be provided on the test start date to admin@breaktheicechallenge.com.