We’ve been working on developing a protective solution for the terrestrial vehicle, namely protecting components from biting and scent-marking from the wolves. Several design constraints had to be considered for this to work and be effective. We needed a durable solution, one that would prevent the casing from cracking and potentially become an ingestion hazard for the wolves. Any pieces and components from the vehicle needs to stay on the vehicle to prevent accidental consumption by the wolves. In addition to durability, we wanted to make the casing as curved as possible, to prevent the wolves from gripping parts of the case. The casing also needs to be waterproof, to prevent fluids from entering and potentially ruining our equipment.

In the CAD model above, we have two components of the case, the rotating turret for the camera and the casing for the vehicle. Because of the dynamics of the turret, it was harder to make a casing that was more curved, but we are continuing to work on making it more streamline with the rest of the vehicle.