Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Open Access Master's Report
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Advisor 1
Paulus van Susante
Committee Member 1
Timothy Eisele
Committee Member 2
Stephen Morse
Abstract
Understanding how cutter geometry, material, and operating conditions influence excavation performance is critical for the design of lunar surface systems operating in regolith environments. This work presents a torque-based methodology for detecting and quantifying bucket-specific load variations in a continuous bucket ladder excavator. A nine-bucket excavator was constructed to record drivetrain torque while operating in a regolith simulant over multi-day test periods. Each bucket featured a unique combination of cutting edge material and geometry. A method was developed to separate the continuous torque data into individual excavation events, enabling identification of individual bucket interactions. Analysis of the resulting event-based dataset showed that small but persistent differences in bucket load could be resolved through statistical averaging over thousands of interactions. Differential load trends were observed and shown to exceed the uncertainty of the mean, indicating statistically significant variations in cutter performance. The results demonstrate that drivetrain torque measurements can be used to monitor excavation performance at the individual cutter level in continuous systems.
Recommended Citation
Krause, Mason R., "TORQUE-BASED DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF BUCKET-SPECIFIC LOAD VARIATIONS IN A CONTINUOUS BUCKET LADDER EXCAVATOR", Open Access Master's Report, Michigan Technological University, 2026.
Included in
Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Commons, Tribology Commons