The Fourth Annual University Rover Challenge

The University Rover Challenge is an annual competition organized by the Mars Society. Teams of university students build teleoperated rovers which must complete four tasks.

Sample Return Task

Rovers must find and document locations that may contain cyanobacteria bacteria (blue-green algae), take photos, and return a soil sample or rock from the area.

Construction Task

This is the most technically challenging task, requiring a robotic arm to push buttons, flip electrical switches, and plug in 120VAC-style electrical plugs.

Emergency Navigation Task

Teams must use their rover to navigate over rough terrain to up to five astronauts and deliver a specific package to each.

Site and Survey Task

Teams must determine the geographic coordinates of landmarks that are unreachable by the rovers. Each landmark consists of a white pole with unique markings on each one. The teams must record markings and the coordinates of the pole and report the results to the judges.