About Us
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design and deliver engineering projects that advance human and robotic exploration in space. The Development Team works across multiple initiatives with a primary focus on the software for the NASA’s SUITS challenge. The Hardware Team on the other hand leads physical systems design and prototyping efforts for NASA’s RASC-AL challenge. The Business Team supports organizational growth, partnerships, and project sustainability while also assisting the Research Team with grants, studies, and technical documentation. The UX Team collaborates across all disciplines to design intuitive interfaces and evaluate XR systems with an emphasis on human factors and astronaut usability.
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design and deliver engineering projects that advance human and robotic exploration in space. The Development Team works across multiple initiatives with a primary focus on the software for the NASA’s SUITS challenge. The Hardware Team on the other hand leads physical systems design and prototyping efforts for NASA’s RASC-AL challenge. The Business Team supports organizational growth, partnerships, and project sustainability while also assisting the Research Team with grants, studies, and technical documentation. The UX Team collaborates across all disciplines to design intuitive interfaces and evaluate XR systems with an emphasis on human factors and astronaut usability.
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
The team structure begins with the Project Manager and Technical Project Manager. They drive club operations on both the business and development sides. This year, Anirudh Annavarapu and Molly Maloney take up the mantle and continue to reinvent the team into more collaborative and productive systems. As the year continues, they work closely with subteam leads to coordinate projects for mission success.
The Executive Board and Subteam Leads act as experienced members / advisors to the team for ongoing support throughout onboarding and development. They help bridge the gap between leadership and new members. Leadership drives operations and project workflow, with the fall focusing on onboarding and the winter focusing heavily on development. Each subteam has its own approach, but weekly cross-team sessions and clear handoffs—plus rotating highlights and shared onboarding—keep everyone aligned. Feature development begins in onboarding and integrated into an MVP for winter semester.
The team is committed to maintaining an inclusive and diverse environment for all students across all disciplines. With a wide range of majors across colleges, the perspectives new members bring is invaluable. CLAWS frequently hosts team social events throughout the year, including retreats, tailgates, Friendsgiving, movie nights, CLAWS Olympics, Hackathons, boba trips, and more. The club has presented at several conferences—with more to come in the future—including the XR @ Michigan Summit, UX@UM Conference, UMSI Convocation, and the U-M Space Symposium. The team also puts on several outreach events each year to teach K-12 and college students about science, technology, and space exploration.
The Executive Board and Subteam Leads act as experienced members / advisors to the team for ongoing support throughout onboarding and development. They help bridge the gap between leadership and new members. Leadership drives operations and project workflow, with the fall focusing on onboarding and the winter focusing heavily on development. Each subteam has its own approach, but weekly cross-team sessions and clear handoffs—plus rotating highlights and shared onboarding—keep everyone aligned. Feature development begins in onboarding and integrated into an MVP for winter semester.
The team is committed to maintaining an inclusive and diverse environment for all students across all disciplines. With a wide range of majors across colleges, the perspectives new members bring is invaluable. CLAWS frequently hosts team social events throughout the year, including retreats, tailgates, Friendsgiving, movie nights, CLAWS Olympics, Hackathons, boba trips, and more. The club has presented at several conferences—with more to come in the future—including the XR @ Michigan Summit, UX@UM Conference, UMSI Convocation, and the U-M Space Symposium. The team also puts on several outreach events each year to teach K-12 and college students about science, technology, and space exploration.
The team structure begins with the Project Manager and Technical Project Manager. They drive club operations on both the business and development sides. This year, Anirudh Annavarapu and Molly Maloney take up the mantle and continue to reinvent the team into more collaborative and productive systems. As the year continues, they work closely with subteam leads to coordinate projects for mission success.
SUITS
As NASA launches the Artemis program for sustained human presence on the moon and ultimately, Mars, engineers are considering what technology will best aid astronauts to safely and successfully complete their missions. Today, the Mission Control Center at NASA relays all pertinent information to the crew via a voice loop. In the future, communication delays upwards of 20 minutes to the surface of Mars will require crew members to have more autonomy.
As NASA launches the Artemis program for sustained human presence on the moon and ultimately, Mars, engineers are considering what technology will best aid astronauts to safely and successfully complete their missions. Today, the Mission Control Center at NASA relays all pertinent information to the crew via a voice loop. In the future, communication delays upwards of 20 minutes to the surface of Mars will require crew members to have more autonomy.
As NASA launches the Artemis program for sustained human presence on the moon and ultimately, Mars, engineers are considering what technology will best aid astronauts to safely and successfully complete their missions. Today, the Mission Control Center at NASA relays all pertinent information to the crew via a voice loop. In the future, communication delays upwards of 20 minutes to the surface of Mars will require crew members to have more autonomy.
Stemming from NASA’s foundational Joint-AR project, the NASA SUITS Challenge tasks university teams with developing AR interfaces for lunar astronauts, and pressurized rovers for assisting them. The helmet display is designed to support astronauts with navigation, task management, vitals tracking, geological sample logging, and communication between mission control and another universities rover.
At the end of each year, 10 university teams are selected as finalists from their written proposals. NASA scientists, engineers, designers, and astronauts evaluate the student-built projects, providing feedback. Past presenters have included teams from Stanford, Duke, USC, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UT-Austin, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Columbia University, Boise State University, and many more.
Stemming from NASA’s foundational Joint-AR project, the NASA SUITS Challenge tasks university teams with developing AR interfaces for lunar astronauts, and pressurized rovers for assisting them. The helmet display is designed to support astronauts with navigation, task management, vitals tracking, geological sample logging, and communication between mission control and another universities rover.
At the end of each year, 10 university teams are selected as finalists from their written proposals. NASA scientists, engineers, designers, and astronauts evaluate the student-built projects, providing feedback. Past presenters have included teams from Stanford, Duke, USC, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UT-Austin, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Columbia University, Boise State University, and many more.
RASC-AL
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
Each year, new project themes are released that designate teams to compete in specific areas of lunar and Martian mission design. The challenge invites university teams to develop forward-looking concepts that address these evolving exploration needs. Submissions are evaluated by NASA scientists and engineers based on technical feasibility, innovation, and mission impact, with top teams recognized for advancing future exploration concepts
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
RASC-AL
Each year, new project themes are released that designate teams to compete in specific areas of lunar and Martian mission design. The challenge invites university teams to develop forward-looking concepts that address these evolving exploration needs. Submissions are evaluated by NASA scientists and engineers based on technical feasibility, innovation, and mission impact, with top teams recognized for advancing future exploration concepts
RASC-AL
SUBTEAMS
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
PROJECTS
SUBTEAMS
PROJECTS
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
Long-term human presence on the Moon through the Artemis program means engineers must design not only individual technologies, but entire mission systems that support sustained surface operations. From sample return logistics to autonomous mobility and lunar base infrastructure, future exploration depends on scalable, integrated architectures that enable science, safety, and continuous operations.
Stemming from NASA’s foundational Joint-AR project, the NASA SUITS Challenge tasks university teams with developing AR interfaces for lunar astronauts, and pressurized rovers for assisting them. The helmet display is designed to support astronauts with navigation, task management, vitals tracking, geological sample logging, and communication between mission control and another Universities rover.
Software
Develop AR and Mission Control Systems
Hardware
Develop Robotic and Electrical Components
UX Design
Design User Interfaces and Interaction Systems
Research
Investigate Mission Concepts
and Emerging Technologies
Business
Manage Team Operations, Events, and Outreach
At the end of each year, 10 university teams are selected as finalists from their written proposals. NASA scientists, engineers, designers, and astronauts evaluate the student-built projects, providing feedback. Past presenters have included teams from Stanford, Duke, USC, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UT-Austin, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Columbia University, Boise State University, and many more.
As NASA launches the Artemis program for sustained human presence on the moon and ultimately, Mars, engineers are considering what technology will best aid astronauts to safely and successfully complete their missions. Today, the Mission Control Center at NASA relays all pertinent information to the crew via a voice loop. In the future, communication delays upwards of 20 minutes to the surface of Mars will require crew members to have more autonomy.
Stemming from NASA’s foundational Joint-AR project, the NASA SUITS Challenge tasks university teams with developing AR interfaces for lunar astronauts, and pressurized rovers for assisting them. The helmet display is designed to support astronauts with navigation, task management, vitals tracking, geological sample logging, and communication between mission control and another Universities rover.
At the end of each year, 10 university teams are selected as finalists from their written proposals. NASA scientists, engineers, designers, and astronauts evaluate the student-built projects, providing feedback. Past presenters have included teams from Stanford, Duke, USC, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UT-Austin, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Columbia University, Boise State University, and many more.
SUBTEAMS
PROJECTS
About Us
About Us
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design and deliver engineering projects that advance human and robotic exploration in space. The Development Team works across multiple initiatives with a primary focus on the software for the NASA’s SUITS challenge. The Hardware Team on the other hand leads physical systems design and prototyping efforts for NASA’s RASC-AL challenge. The Business Team supports organizational growth, partnerships, and project sustainability while also assisting the Research Team with grants, studies, and technical documentation. The UX Team collaborates across all disciplines to design intuitive interfaces and evaluate XR systems with an emphasis on human factors and astronaut usability.
About Us
About Us
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design and deliver engineering projects that advance human and robotic exploration in space. The Development Team works across multiple initiatives with a primary focus on the software for the NASA’s SUITS challenge. The Hardware Team on the other hand leads physical systems design and prototyping efforts for NASA’s RASC-AL challenge. The Business Team supports organizational growth, partnerships, and project sustainability while also assisting the Research Team with grants, studies, and technical documentation. The UX Team collaborates across all disciplines to design intuitive interfaces and evaluate XR systems with an emphasis on human factors and astronaut usability.