Core elements

• Hoover for dirt
• Turn table for test tubes
• Sensor read head
• Rock cam read head
• Positioning camera
• Test tube camera

Hoover

• this will be used to transport dirt to the test tubes
• will go up and down on a vertical axis to reach the ground
• should incorporate adjustable vent holes to control air dirt ratio
• delivery end shall use a cup separator
  
  • design for various mesh sizes to test with
• deliver to 3 test tubes simultaneously
• use some sort of suction motor to generate the vacuum → 24V
• potentially add a drill motor
  • (lathe style power with hex shaft to fix motor to frame rather than on axis)
• 1 linear axis up and down
  • plumbing might be tricky

Turn table

• stores 3 test tubes per station with 5 total stations, layout will place the 15 test tubes in 3 rings of 5 concentric
• test tubes need to follow no spill policy
  • figure out how to seal or cover the lids during traversal
• need to figure out how to make good air tight fit with delivery system
• needs to rotate using a standard continuous motion (no Geneva drive)
• may need another axis to  properly locate the test tubes under the vacuum delivery
• size of test tube tbd

Sensor read head

• allows the sensors to be placed in the dirt, as well retract to get a base line reading
• read head will have the following sensors:
  • Methane sensor (683) https://www.dfrobot.com/product-683.html
  • Humidity & Temperature sensor (385) https://www.adafruit.com/product/385
  • Soil Moisture sensor (599) https://www.dfrobot.com/product-599.html
• mind the wiring management
• 1 linear axis up and down

Rock Camera

• some sort of dino camera will be used
  • if one is found in the bay, it will be used
• 1 linear axis up and down
  • x-z positioning might be difficult, this is addressed in the nice-to-haves section

Positioning Camera

• static camera on chassis to see the the dirt in relation to the instruments
• can be a cheapo webcam found in the bay

Test tube Camera

• static camera on chassis to see the test results from the test tubes
• can be a cheapo webcam found in the bay

Nices-to-haves

• 1 axis side to side gantry
  • this will help strafing positioning that would be difficult to do with just the drivetrain
  • the entire science mechanism will go on the gantry and the gantry mounts on the chassis
• 2 axis x-z gantry
  • replaces the 1 axis gantry
  • would really help with positioning of read heads
• Drill with hoover
  • that extra spicy touch
• Other sensors
  • if budget permits, we could get a CO2 sensor,
  • spectroscopy will have to wait till next year