University Rover Challenge
The University Rover Challenge (URC) is an annual international competition hosted by the Mars Society for University and College students to complete a given scenario using a rover the team has built.
Location
The competition is held at the Mars Desert Research Station, outside Hanksville, Utah. The site was selected by the Mars Society for its geographic similarity to Mars - in addition to being a largely barren desert area, the soil in the area has a chemical composition nearly identical to Martian soil.
Dates and times
The first URC was held on Saturday June 2, 2007 at 7:00 AM MST. The second URC was held on June 5–7, 2008. beginning at 8:00 AM MST. The third URC was held May 28–30, 2009, beginning with an orientation at 11:00 AM MST beginning in the Whispering Sands motel parking lot.
Scenarios
The competition is run under the basic assumption that the rovers being designed are being designed as assistive rovers for a manned mission to mars, and as such, are allowed recharge times between events, and are allowed un-delayed radio communications with the team running the rover.
The most recent year's event also required that the propulsion and power systems of the rover be easily adaptable to Martian conditions, greatly limiting the practicality of using internal combustion engines at the competition.
2007
At the Mars Society's inaugural University Rover Challenge in 2007, in the often Mars-like desert of the American West, competing teams will remotely operate their rovers to deploy a radio repeater and survey a second area for possible signs of life.[1]
2008
At the 2nd event teams were given 4 tasks to complete in the hot desert. Those tasks were:
- Emergency Navigation to find a lost astronaut given only last known GPS coordinates
- Soil Characterization to find ph levels and other information about the soil
- Construction to turn or touch 12 bolts on 2 panels at different angles
- Geological Survey, just like in 2007 to look for possible signs of life
2009
The events for the third year were very similar to those of the previous year, and consisted of:
- Emergency Navigation to find a lost astronaut given only last known GPS coordinates.
- Remote Surveying to find the location of posts placed in the desert using the rover.
- Construction to turn or touch 12 bolts on 2 panels at different angles.
- Extremophile Search to find evidence of extremophiles in the desert.
2010
The tasks were once again similar, but some now with added complexity:
- Emergency Navigation to find a distressed astronaut and deliver a package
- Equipment Servicing to read a list of step-by-step commands directing the rover to push buttons, flip switches and plug an electrical plugs into outlets in a predefined order.
- Sample Return to search for a location in the area that exhibits signs of extremophiles, return the sample so that it can be analyzed at the base station.
- Remote Surveying to find the location of posts placed in the desert using the rover.
2011
- Astronaut Assistance to deliver packages to several astronauts
- Equipment Servicing to read a list of step-by-step commands directing the rover to push buttons, flip switches and plug an electrical plugs into outlets in a predefined order.
- Sample Return to search for a location in the area that exhibits signs of extremophiles, return the sample so that it can be analyzed at the base station.
- Site Survey to find the location of posts placed in the desert using the rover.
2012
- Astronaut Assistance to deliver packages to several astronauts including ones out of radio line of sight
- Equipment Servicing to clean dust from a solar panel, check the voltage, and switch on a load.
- Sample Return to search for a location in the area that exhibits signs of extremophiles, return the sample so that it can be analyzed at the base station.
- Site Survey to find the location of posts placed in the desert using the rover.
2013
- Astronaut Assistance to deliver packages to several astronauts including ones out of radio line of sight
- Equipment Servicing to clean dust from a solar panel, check the voltage, and switch on a load.
- Sample Return to search for a location in the area that exhibits signs of extremophiles, return the sample so that it can be analyzed at the base station.
- Terrain Traversing to navigate over rough terrain include rock piles, river gullies, and steep hills
2014
- Astronaut Assistance to pick up and deliver tools to astronauts including a radio repeater to allow a signal to be received from a sensor out of radio line of sight.
- Equipment Servicing to inflate a structure by turning valves and switching on a blower.
- Sample Return to search for a location in the area that exhibits signs of extremophiles, return the sample so that it can be analyzed at the base station.
- Terrain Traversing to navigate over rough terrain include rock piles, river gullies, and steep hills
Prizes
The winning team will receive transportation, lodging and admission for five individuals to present their rover at the Annual International Mars Society Convention, as well as cash prizes.
Teams and Results
2014
31 teams registered. 23 competed. First back-to-back champions.
- 1st Place: Hyperion Team (Białystok University of Technology, Poland)
- 2nd Place: Mars Rover Design Team (Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA)
- 3rd Place: Legendary Team (Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland)
2013
15 teams registered. 10 competed. First team from Asia (SRM University, India). First perfect score in every rover task.
- 1st Place: Hyperion Team (Białystok University of Technology, Poland) 493 points (the highest ever score at URC)
- 2nd Place: Scorpio 3 (Wrocław University of Technology, Poland) 401 points
- 3rd Place: Brigham Young University[2] (USA) 350 points
2012
10 teams registered, 5 teams made it to Utah to compete.
- 1st Place: York University, Canada
- 2nd Place: Brigham Young University, USA
- 3rd Place: Cornell University, USA
2011
- 1st Place: Magma 2 (Białystok University of Technology), Poland
- 2nd Place: York University, Canada
- 3rd Place: Oregon State University (USA)
2010
- 1st Place: Oregon State University Robotics Club
- 2nd Place: York University (York Mars Rover Team)
- 3rd Place: MAGMA Team from Poland
2009
- 1st Place: York University (York Mars Rover Team)
- 2nd Place: Brigham Young University (BYU Mars Rover)
- 3rd Place: University of Nevada, Reno
- 4th Place: Oregon State University Robotics Club
2008
- 1st Place: Oregon State University Robotics Club
- 2nd Place: University of Nevada, Reno[3]
- 3rd Place: York University (York Mars Rover Team)
- 4th Place: Iowa State University
2007
- 1st Place: University of Nevada, Reno[3]
- 2nd Place: Brigham Young University (BYU Mars Rover)
- 3rd Place: University of California, Los Angeles
- 4th Place: Pennsylvania State University
Both the Penn State and UCLA rover teams experienced technical difficulties that contributed to their low finishes. The Penn State team was forced to withdraw from competition due to the severity of their problems.
See also
- Colonization of Mars
- Exploration of Mars
- Flag of Mars
- Haughton-Mars Project
- Life on Mars
- Manned mission to Mars
- MARS-500
- Mars Desert Research Station
- Mars Direct
- Mars to Stay
- Space colonization
- Space science
- Timekeeping on Mars
References
- ↑ "The Scenario -- The Mars Society". marssociety.org. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
- ↑ http://urc.marssociety.org/home/urc-news/yearofrecordsat2013universityroverchallenge
- 1 2 http://www.dailysparkstribune.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news_region_in_brief&id=2623492-UNR+Mars+rover+team+heading+to+Utah&widget=push&article-UNR%20Mars%20rover%20team%20heading%20to%20Utah%20=&instance=lead_story_bullets_left_column&open=&
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