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.
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.
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.
Hee. 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
63 teams registered. 30 teams admitted. 28 teams competed.
1st Place: Legendary Rover Team (Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland) 452.3 points
2nd Place: WSU Everett Engineering Club (Washington State University, United States) 368 points
3rd Place: Continuum (University of Wrocław, Poland) 345.3 points
23 teams.
1st Place: Legendary Rover Team (Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland)
2nd Place: BYU Mars Rover (Brigham Young University, United States)
3rd Place: Project Scorpio (Wrocław University of Technology, Poland)
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, United States)
3rd Place: Legendary Team (Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland)
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 (United States) 350 points
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
1st Place: Magma 2 (Białystok University of Technology), Poland
2nd Place: York University, Canada
3rd Place: Oregon State University (United States)
1st Place: Oregon State University Robotics Club
2nd Place: York University (York Mars Rover Team)
3rd Place: MAGMA Team from Poland
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
Georgia Tech
University of California, Los Angeles
Warsaw University of Technology
1st Place: Oregon State University Robotics Club
2nd Place: University of Nevada, Reno
3rd Place: York University (York Mars Rover Team)
4th Place: Iowa State University
Brigham Young University (BYU Mars Rover)
Georgia Tech
University of California, Los Angeles
1st Place: University of Nevada, Reno
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.
