NASA has selected five 3D model submissions to the Advanced Lightweight Lunar Gantry for Operations (ALLGO) challenge. The ideas offer potential ways to unload supplies on the Moon, something NASA is considering as it works toward sustainable exploration under the Artemis program.
The challenge supports NASA’s ALLGO feasibility study to develop an innovative lightweight gantry system using inflatable components that can be tightly packaged and easily deployed on the lunar surface. GrabCAD ran the challenge on behalf of NASA.
“Almost every submission had innovative ideas, giving NASA a sourcebook for future concept development work,” said Kevin Kempton, the ALLGO study and challenge lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “I am impressed with the results of the challenge and the collaboration within the GrabCAD community.”
Submissions included models that showed gantry designs in their operational configuration and detailed descriptions of the packing and deployment processes. Based on a review of 132 proposals, NASA chose 20 finalists and selected and ranked five winners based on the challenge scoring criteria.
- First Prize: NASAGANTRY2020 ALLGO CS by Christie S. from Nantes, France, judges found the design credible and noted a clean and simple deployment concept
- Second Prize: ALLGO-GC by Anouar Barodi from Cuneo, Italy, judges found the design realistic and mass efficient
- Third Prize: Archie by Jouni Huopana from Oulunsalo, Finland, judges noted the design is scalable and has redundancy
- Fourth Prize: Tetrahedral inflated truss gantry by Rabah Slimani from Algeria, judges found the design solid and structurally effective
- Fifth Prize: ALLGO Tubecrane by Ben Marken, from Canada, judges noted the innovative three tube design
“NASA will evaluate these concepts further and incorporate the best ideas into a low-cost prototype, allowing us to evaluate how it compares to more traditional designs that use a rigid structure,” said Kempton.
As part of its 21st century lunar exploration program, NASA has proposed building an Artemis Base Camp at the lunar South Pole. Such a camp would likely need systems to unload and transport cargo from landing zones located a safe distance away. The ALLGO challenge gave the public an opportunity to submit their ideas of a mobile lunar gantry based on a structural framework of inflatable components as computer-aided design, or CAD, model files.
The ALLGO concept study is funded by the Center Innovation Fund within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The challenge was managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes and Challenges program within STMD. The program supports the use of public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
To see all of the submissions, visit:
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