Daedalus: An Autonomous Robotic Arm on the NASA RockSat Mission
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Dan Lawrence, Northwest Nazarene University; Dr. Autumn Pratt, Northwest Nazarene University; and Sarah Duncan, Northwest Nazarene University
Presentation Date
7-15-2026
Abstract
RockSat is a NASA program where undergraduate students can build an experiment that gets sent to microgravity on a sounding rocket. This project gives students essential experience managing project timelines and designing aerospace grade hardware.NNU’s Daedalus project attempts to test a robotic arm that can autonomously track and retrieve objects in space using a depth camera and software to track and range targets. Daedalus consists of a robotic arm that maneuvers out of the payload area to grab a ball extended by a lead screw system. A depth camera in the end of the arm takes images, which are fed into an image filter that returns depth and direction to the target. Then an inverse kinematics solver calculates that arm movements required to get to that target. An extensive PCB keeps all electronics contained and a camera system records footage during the duration of the mission. Multiple prototypes were printed of PLA before final aluminum parts were machined. Each subsystem was tested independently before being integrated into the project. Power draw, weight, center of gravity, and speed of completion were the main tests conducted. During launch, the arm shifted, so it got jammed on the way out. The ejector system also suffered a jamming issue. The camera systems functioned perfectly, including footage of the first couple seconds of re-entry. Logging worked as expected, it is still being parsed to determine exactly when jamming happened. This project verified that 3 types of cameras do indeed work in space, and that low budget hardware can be successful. 4 students also learned a lot about designing aerospace projects.
Daedalus: An Autonomous Robotic Arm on the NASA RockSat Mission
RockSat is a NASA program where undergraduate students can build an experiment that gets sent to microgravity on a sounding rocket. This project gives students essential experience managing project timelines and designing aerospace grade hardware.NNU’s Daedalus project attempts to test a robotic arm that can autonomously track and retrieve objects in space using a depth camera and software to track and range targets. Daedalus consists of a robotic arm that maneuvers out of the payload area to grab a ball extended by a lead screw system. A depth camera in the end of the arm takes images, which are fed into an image filter that returns depth and direction to the target. Then an inverse kinematics solver calculates that arm movements required to get to that target. An extensive PCB keeps all electronics contained and a camera system records footage during the duration of the mission. Multiple prototypes were printed of PLA before final aluminum parts were machined. Each subsystem was tested independently before being integrated into the project. Power draw, weight, center of gravity, and speed of completion were the main tests conducted. During launch, the arm shifted, so it got jammed on the way out. The ejector system also suffered a jamming issue. The camera systems functioned perfectly, including footage of the first couple seconds of re-entry. Logging worked as expected, it is still being parsed to determine exactly when jamming happened. This project verified that 3 types of cameras do indeed work in space, and that low budget hardware can be successful. 4 students also learned a lot about designing aerospace projects.