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 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 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 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. They drive club operations on both the business and development side. This year, Anirudh Annavarapu takes up the mantle, and continues to reinvent the team into more collaborative and productive ways. With a retreat and a new NASA competition in the works, 2025-2026 is shaping up to be one of our most exciting years yet!
The Executive Board acts as experienced members / advisors to the team for ongoing support throughout onboarding and development. They help bridge the gap between Subteam 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 Friendsgiving, movie nights, CLAWS Olympics, Hackathons, boba trips, and more. The club has presented at several conferences, 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 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.
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.
SUITS
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.
AR Team
Framer is a design tool that allows you to design websites on a freeform canvas, and then publish them as websites with a single click.
Infrastructure Team
The Web Team is responsible for building and maintaining the core technical infrastructure for CLAWS. This includes connecting our AR application with NASA’s telemetry server, our partner university’s Pressurized Rover, and our planned and established internal systems across projects.
AI Team
The AI Team ideates, develops, and integrates AI features that interface with our projects. Team members explore and implement key AI concepts such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning to create interactive and adaptive experiences.
Hardware Team
The Hardware Team designs, builds, and implements the RASC-AL challenge. Members learn and apply skills in CAD, 3-D printing, electronics, circuit design, and programming to prototype and translate their designs into working devices.
UX Team
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
Research Team
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
Finance Team
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
Outreach Team
The Outreach Team leads CLAWS’ external communications and manages the planning and execution of outreach events. As a key part of CLAWS’ AR initiatives and educational efforts, the team works to engage communities both locally and beyond. Outreach members will be coordinating a variety of events that could form lasting relationships with organizations, schools, and other teams.
Content Team
The Content Team is responsible for creating, managing, and posting content related to all aspects of CLAWS. The Content team will collaborate closely with all subteams to make sure everything is well promoted and documented.
Social Team
The Social Team is responsible for fostering connections among members and ensuring that CLAWS remains a fun and engaging community. Social Team members organize at least one event each month, giving the team plenty of opportunities to connect outside of work. Past events have included a BBQ, a trip to the apple orchard, and a MasterChef event!
AI
Develop Innovative AI Features
AR
Develop Augmented Reality Features
Web
Develop Infrastructure for AR and Peripherals
UX Design
Design AR and Peripheral Interfaces
Research
Explore Potential Design Approaches for AR
Hardware
Develop Electronic and Physical Components
Finance
Manage Team
Finances and Grants
Content
Create Videos and Manage Social Media
Social
Plan and Arrange
Team Events
Outreach
Plan and Arrange
Outreach Oppurtunities
PROJECTS
SUBTEAMS
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
GEMINI • 2025 - 2026
NASA SUITS Challenge - The Guided EVA Mission Infrastructure for Navigation Insight Status: ACCEPTED
POLARIS • 2025 - 2026
NASA RASC-AL Challenge Status: AWAITING
AURA • 2024 - 2025
AURA (Astronaut Unified Reality Assistant) is a unified astronaut interface designed to consolidate previous CLAWS iterations into a single, streamlined AR application. Built for EVA operations, AURA integrates the HoloLens 2 with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC) and a Pressurized Rover, enabling seamless task execution across ingress/egress, site navigation, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and rover control. The system emphasizes flexibility, autonomy, and reduced cognitive load. Interaction is achieved primarily through a hybrid gaze-and-button model, which minimizes errors encountered in prior eye-gaze-only systems. VEGA, the AI voice assistant, serves as a robust backup to ensure hands-free operability when needed, while LMCC integration strengthens astronaut–Mission Control collaboration. By consolidating features into a single ecosystem, AURA provides astronauts with a more reliable, intuitive, and mission-ready platform. It marks a pivotal step in CLAWS’ trajectory, transitioning from experimental prototypes to a fully realized operational concept.
IRIS • 2023 - 2024
IRIS (Immersive Reality Interplanetary System) is an AR application designed to support astronauts on Mars EVAs by providing intuitive, voice-driven interfaces for ingress, navigation, rover commanding, vitals monitoring, geological sampling, and equipment repair. The system synchronizes astronaut actions with a Local Mission Control Console (LMCC), creating a robust framework for multi-agent collaboration. At its core, IRIS emphasizes hands-free autonomy. Astronauts primarily interact through VEGA, an AI assistant enhanced to handle multi-step natural language commands. Task-specific “modes” ensure only relevant information is displayed, minimizing cognitive load. Supporting subsystems such as COR (Cardiac + Orientation Reporter) expanded the HoloLens’ field of view, while SCOUT, an autonomous rover with lidar and RGBD mapping, enhanced navigation and geology operations. IRIS represented a major leap in EVA simulation, demonstrating real-time astronaut–rover–Mission Control collaboration across scenarios such as rerouting to rescue a crewmate, conducting rover-assisted sampling, and performing equipment repair. Its modular design and voice-first approach established new standards for autonomy and usability in interplanetary mission support systems.
NOVA • 2022 - 2023
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
HOSHI • 2021 - 2022
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
ATLAS • 2020 - 2021
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
AR Team
Framer is a design tool that allows you to design websites on a freeform canvas, and then publish them as websites with a single click.
Infrastructure Team
The Web Team is responsible for building and maintaining the core technical infrastructure for CLAWS. This includes connecting our AR application with NASA’s telemetry server, our partner university’s Pressurized Rover, and our planned and established internal systems across projects.
AI Team
The AI Team ideates, develops, and integrates AI features that interface with our projects. Team members explore and implement key AI concepts such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning to create interactive and adaptive experiences.
Hardware Team
The Hardware Team designs, builds, and implements the RASC-AL challenge. Members learn and apply skills in CAD, 3-D printing, electronics, circuit design, and programming to prototype and translate their designs into working devices.
UX Team
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
Research Team
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
Finance Team
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
Outreach Team
The Outreach Team leads CLAWS’ external communications and manages the planning and execution of outreach events. As a key part of CLAWS’ AR initiatives and educational efforts, the team works to engage communities both locally and beyond. Outreach members will be coordinating a variety of events that could form lasting relationships with organizations, schools, and other teams.
Content Team
The Content Team is responsible for creating, managing, and posting content related to all aspects of CLAWS. The Content team will collaborate closely with all subteams to make sure everything is well promoted and documented.
Social Team
The Social Team is responsible for fostering connections among members and ensuring that CLAWS remains a fun and engaging community. Social Team members organize at least one event each month, giving the team plenty of opportunities to connect outside of work. Past events have included a BBQ, a trip to the apple orchard, and a MasterChef event!
AR Team
Framer is a design tool that allows you to design websites on a freeform canvas, and then publish them as websites with a single click.
Infrastructure Team
The Web Team is responsible for building and maintaining the core technical infrastructure for CLAWS. This includes connecting our AR application with NASA’s telemetry server, our partner university’s Pressurized Rover, and our planned and established internal systems across projects.
AI Team
The AI Team ideates, develops, and integrates AI features that interface with our projects. Team members explore and implement key AI concepts such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning to create interactive and adaptive experiences.
Hardware Team
The Hardware Team designs, builds, and implements the RASC-AL challenge. Members learn and apply skills in CAD, 3-D printing, electronics, circuit design, and programming to prototype and translate their designs into working devices.
UX Team
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
Research Team
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
Finance Team
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
Outreach Team
The Outreach Team leads CLAWS’ external communications and manages the planning and execution of outreach events. As a key part of CLAWS’ AR initiatives and educational efforts, the team works to engage communities both locally and beyond. Outreach members will be coordinating a variety of events that could form lasting relationships with organizations, schools, and other teams.
Content Team
The Content Team is responsible for creating, managing, and posting content related to all aspects of CLAWS. The Content team will collaborate closely with all subteams to make sure everything is well promoted and documented.
Social Team
The Social Team is responsible for fostering connections among members and ensuring that CLAWS remains a fun and engaging community. Social Team members organize at least one event each month, giving the team plenty of opportunities to connect outside of work. Past events have included a BBQ, a trip to the apple orchard, and a MasterChef event!
AR Team
Framer is a design tool that allows you to design websites on a freeform canvas, and then publish them as websites with a single click.
Infrastructure Team
The Web Team is responsible for building and maintaining the core technical infrastructure for CLAWS. This includes connecting our AR application with NASA’s telemetry server, our partner university’s Pressurized Rover, and our planned and established internal systems across projects.
AI Team
The AI Team ideates, develops, and integrates AI features that interface with our projects. Team members explore and implement key AI concepts such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning to create interactive and adaptive experiences.
Hardware Team
The Hardware Team designs, builds, and implements the RASC-AL challenge. Members learn and apply skills in CAD, 3-D printing, electronics, circuit design, and programming to prototype and translate their designs into working devices.
UX Team
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
Research Team
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
Finance Team
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
Outreach Team
The Outreach Team leads CLAWS’ external communications and manages the planning and execution of outreach events. As a key part of CLAWS’ AR initiatives and educational efforts, the team works to engage communities both locally and beyond. Outreach members will be coordinating a variety of events that could form lasting relationships with organizations, schools, and other teams.
Content Team
The Content Team is responsible for creating, managing, and posting content related to all aspects of CLAWS. The Content team will collaborate closely with all subteams to make sure everything is well promoted and documented.
Social Team
The Social Team is responsible for fostering connections among members and ensuring that CLAWS remains a fun and engaging community. Social Team members organize at least one event each month, giving the team plenty of opportunities to connect outside of work. Past events have included a BBQ, a trip to the apple orchard, and a MasterChef event!
AR Team
Framer is a design tool that allows you to design websites on a freeform canvas, and then publish them as websites with a single click.
Infrastructure Team
The Web Team is responsible for building and maintaining the core technical infrastructure for CLAWS. This includes connecting our AR application with NASA’s telemetry server, our partner university’s Pressurized Rover, and our planned and established internal systems across projects.
AI Team
The AI Team ideates, develops, and integrates AI features that interface with our projects. Team members explore and implement key AI concepts such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning to create interactive and adaptive experiences.
Hardware Team
The Hardware Team designs, builds, and implements the RASC-AL challenge. Members learn and apply skills in CAD, 3-D printing, electronics, circuit design, and programming to prototype and translate their designs into working devices.
UX Team
The UX Team designs the visuals and plans the functionality for the AR application and peripheral devices. Members focus on determining the scope of features, conducting human factors research, designing consistent UIs in Figma, and carrying out user testing of designs.
Research Team
The Research Team will build a VR simulation of last year’s project to evaluate how effectively it assists users with navigation. We’ll deliver a functional prototype, conduct literature reviews, design and run participant studies, and analyze the results. In collaboration with our faculty advisor, we’ll prepare and submit our findings to appropriate research venues and NASA.
Finance Team
The Finance Team is responsible for procuring funds for all events, merch, hardware components, and other needs for the club throughout the year. Grant applications play a key role in obtaining these funds, with a large number of deadlines occurring in the first semester.
Outreach Team
The Outreach Team leads CLAWS’ external communications and manages the planning and execution of outreach events. As a key part of CLAWS’ AR initiatives and educational efforts, the team works to engage communities both locally and beyond. Outreach members will be coordinating a variety of events that could form lasting relationships with organizations, schools, and other teams.
Content Team
The Content Team is responsible for creating, managing, and posting content related to all aspects of CLAWS. The Content team will collaborate closely with all subteams to make sure everything is well promoted and documented.
Social Team
The Social Team is responsible for fostering connections among members and ensuring that CLAWS remains a fun and engaging community. Social Team members organize at least one event each month, giving the team plenty of opportunities to connect outside of work. Past events have included a BBQ, a trip to the apple orchard, and a MasterChef event!
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.
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.