Senior Design Week 8: Mark Figueroa

This week, we ran into a problem while working on campus when the left side rocker on the Astraeus rover was damaged. To stay on schedule, I brought the rover home to repair the damage and took the opportunity to make some major improvements. All the damaged rocker bogie parts were reprinted along with reinforcing the mounting points on the frame to make the structure more durable. Since I had the rover with me, I also decided to completely rewire the system. All power is now organized into separate, clearly defined sections, and each component has a dedicated space inside the chassis. Every motor also now uses a connector, making it easy to unplug during disassembly, and I labeled all connections to simplify future maintenance.

Figure 1: Motor Driver 12V Wiring Harness

Figure 2: 7V & 5V Rail Wiring with a dedicated 3.3V logic rail for PWM

Along with the wiring overhaul, I began sealing up the rover with custom cover panels that I designed to integrate directly with our frame. These panels not only improve the overall look of Astraeus but also protect internal components while maintaining access for service and inspection.

Figure 3: Astraeus Frame Cover Panels (Right Side)