Nasre Manasrah was born in the Caribbean and raised in Palestine. He moved to Hawai‘i in 2008 and graduated from Maui High School in 2010. He is currently enrolled in the Electronic and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) at UH Maui College, and plans on earning his B.S. degree in Engineering Technology after he completes his A.S. degree from the ECET program. For fun, Nasre enjoys hiking, playing basketball, MMA training, and watching movies.
Project Abstract: PISCES develops tools and techniques for planetary exploration. When they received their Argo “Alpha” Rover for testing, it arrived with minimal documentation and functionality. For future operation and development, it was necessary to integrate command and control systems and create a comprehensive troubleshooting manual. In order to improve the rover remote control, the rover’s existing CAMBUS radio-control system was hacked using an Arduino Yun (which has integrated wi-fi) and a CAMBUS shield. By adding GPS, a temperature sensor, lights, and navigation cameras, we greatly improved the rover’s navigation and sensing capabilities. Finally a graphic user interface (GUI) was implemented for the rover. These improvements enabled us to control, locate, and obtain the status of the rover, all via the Internet. For future reference, all of these developments were documented in block and wiring diagrams for the troubleshooting manual. Although these improvements were made, there is still much room for potential future upgrades on the rover, including changing the type of tiers, integrating a fuel cell, adding solar panels, and weather-proofing the existing systems.