Mechanical engineering and physics student Guy Porter’s lunar rover wheel design placed in the top ten in the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge. He's now working on Phase 2 of the competition, where he will ship a prototype of his wheel design to judges at NASA.

When the Temple Robotics team completed their run at the 2025 NASA Lunabotics Challenge, Guy Porter immediately saw where they could improve for 2026 and wasted no time getting started. 

The Lunabotics Challenge is a nationwide competition run by NASA in which students design and build a robot capable of navigating lunar regolith, which is the sand-like surface of the moon. 

Porter, a student double majoring in mechanical engineering and physics, was the primary designer of the wheels on the robot for the 2025 competition, where the team switched from having a normal tire tread to more of a “fluid system.” 

“We changed it from having a normal tire, where you have tread, because when you push against the sand you can start to sink, or if you're trying to spin you start slipping,” Porter said. “With this design there are holes through the top, so you’re kind of absorbing it. It’s like a fluid system. So, it absorbs the sand and pushes it out the back.”  

However, the design wasn’t perfect. During the competition, given the way the sand was exiting the wheel, the robot would dig itself in place and sink whenever it tried to turn. 

Porter noticed the issue immediately. “I need to fix this. I know how I can fix this,” he said. Once the competition was over, he did just that.  

As an incoming leadership member of Temple Robotics, Porter spent the summer making the wheels bigger, maximizing the surface area and altering the design to allow the sand to exit out the side of the wheel as opposed to the back. He finished his rough concept design early in the fall semester. 

When Porter showed the design to a fellow Temple Robotics team member, they told him about the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge and encouraged him to apply.  

As part of their ongoing mission to return to the moon, the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge sought design concepts for a lightweight wheel that can withstand extreme temperatures, conquer lunar terrain and move at a wide range of speeds, all in a low-gravity environment. 

Porter made some minor tweaks to meet the challenge requirements and submitted his design. In December of 2025, he received an email informing him he was selected as a Phase 1 finalist, putting his wheel design in the top ten of all submissions. 

“It was really exciting because I didn’t really think I was going to win,” said Porter. “I developed this wheel, but it was for Lunabotics specifically."  

Porter is now in Phase 2 of the competition where he will build a physical prototype of his design to ship to NASA along with video footage of the process. He’s been coordinating with Brock Donnelly, assistant director of technical support and IDEAS Hub lab manager, to test materials for the 18-inch by 18-inch wheel while also conducting pressure and thermal testing. 

Donnelly works with students on numerous projects throughout the academic year, and Porter’s wheel prototype provided him with some new challenges.  

“While we have produced airless wheels before, this project pushed us into new territory due to its scale, material and performance requirements,” said Donnelly. “Guy was not working on a typical class project; he was designing toward NASA-level expectations. That meant tighter tolerances, more iteration and a stronger focus on real-world performance.” 

In May, Porter will learn if he moves on to Phase 3 as part of the top five, which includes a live demonstration of the remaining wheel designs on the MicroChariot Rover at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Rock Yard over the summer. 

For Porter, who has been following the new lunar exploration campaign and dreams of working at NASA, the opportunity to be even a small part of the process through competing in the Rock and Roll Challenge has been a transforming experience.