Jul 2, 2019
Eric Schnell is an Undergraduate Researcher at UC San Diego, working in both the Cognitive Science Laboratory and the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab. He is also the Founder and CEO of Craitor, a company that is developing portable, rugged, additive manufacturing solutions for use by soldiers in the field.
Every year SEDS USA and SSPI partner to present a design competition focused on challenging university students to create innovative solutions to technical problems. The 2018 challenge was to develop a multi-purpose space vehicle capable of performing one of several possible tasks, e.g. cargo transport or space debris clean-up.
Eric’s team took first place in the competition with their
design of Argo, a space tug intended for multiple trips between LEO
and lunar orbit while carrying upwards of 34 metric tons of
cargo. Its cargo missions may range from satellite deployment
to delivering of cargo to a base in lunar orbit.