The Evolving Design of a NASA Lunabotics Excavator

NASA's Lunabotics Challenge, an annual collegiate competition, encourages the development of innovative solutions, within stringent design requirements and specifications, for a range of tasks required for robot operation on the Lunar surface. This competition format enables the assessment of a wide range of prototype systems, fostering innovation as each team approaches the challenge differently. While the challenge has evolved from robotic mining to berm building, the excavation of lunar regolith has remained a key task. To meet the challenge requirements from 2022-2025, a robotic excavator was developed and refined using an iterative approach: evaluate component performance annually and refine the design based on these analyses. This paper details the evolution of the Lunabotics Challenge requirements and excavator design.