{"id":1173,"date":"2020-07-07T14:06:31","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T06:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sepiadesign.com\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2025-06-26T18:36:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T10:36:07","slug":"architect-wins-nasa-prize-for-venus-rover-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sepiadesign.com\/newsepiasite\/architect-wins-nasa-prize-for-venus-rover-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Architect Wins NASA Prize for Venus Rover Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hong Kong, <\/strong>7 July 2020 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited<\/em>, Thomas Schmidt<\/a>, <\/strong>was awarded an Honorable Mention<\/em> in the NASA Tournament’s “Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover”<\/em> <\/a><\/strong> design competition. Organized by HeroX, the design challenge called for a mechanically-based obstacle sensor system for a future rover that would be able to withstand the extreme temperatures and pressures at the surface of Venus. The international design competition attracted 572 entries from over 80 countries<\/strong>; Schmidt’s solution was among the top 15 entries that received awards from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Double Octopus<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Schmidt’s winning “Double Octopus” design consisted of an intricately nested system of gears and spring-powered mechanical “tentacles” that have the ability to detect holes and obstacles in front of the rover to actuate a reverse drive avoidance mechanism. Additional on-board pitch and roll sensors are triggered when the rover encounters slopes greater than 30 degrees, resulting in a danger of overturning. As the extreme temperatures of the planet surface disallowed any electronic or computer-based systems, a mechanical system was the recommended solution for this design challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Verdict<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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“Your submission was engaging and well-crafted, and your ideas were unanimously applauded by the evaluation panel. It was selected as an Honorable Mention from 572 total entries through a rigorous evaluation process.\u00a0 In recognition of the high caliber submission you submitted, we will be sending a certificate from NASA recognizing your achievement in the coming days.”<\/em><\/p>\nRepresentative of competition organizer HeroX<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Schmidt responded, “I’m happy that as a problem-solving architect, I am able to collaboratively advance efforts in space exploration and space tourism.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmidt was also Winner of the 2011 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)<\/em> Technical Feasibility and Elegance Award for his design of a lunar habitat \/ hotel<\/a> located at the moon’s south pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thomas Schmidt’s award-winning “Double Octopus” entry:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Editor’s Note:\u00a0 Thomas Schmidt<\/strong>, AIA, NCARB, ANZIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited<\/strong><\/a>, an award-winning design multi-disciplinary consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry.\u00a0 Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series<\/em><\/a> which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong, 7 July 2020 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, was awarded an Honorable Mention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,60],"tags":[54,56,19,64],"class_list":["post-1173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-space-architecture","tag-nasa","tag-sepia-design-consultants-limited","tag-thomas-schmidt","tag-venus-rover"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t