Participants

A sense of the unknown has always lured mankind and the greatest of the unknowns of today is outer space. The terrors, the joys and the sense of accomplishment are epitomized in the space program”, with this vision and desire for innovation a group of undergraduate students from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) founded The Team Interplanetar in 2013 and started designing rover for international competitions. Our goal is to build, design, and discover the potentials of a world-class Mars Rover, which will provide a continuous flow of scientific information and perform different operations on the rough Martian terrain. From NASA Lunabotics Competition - 2013 to European Rover Challenge (ERC)- 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022; University Rover Challenge (URC)-2016, 2021, 2022 and 2023; Indian Rover Design Challenge (IRDC)-2020 and International Planetary Aerial System (IPAS)-2021. It has been almost a decade since Team Interplanetar has been actively participating in worldwide space- robotic competitions.  The first achievement for Team Interplanetar was securing 5th position in the Phobos Group of URC –2016. Current team-members have the experience of achieving the team 8th position in ERC-2022 Onsite and 4th position in ERC-2022 Remote, 16th position in ERC-2019 Onsite, 13th position in ERC-2020 Remote, 11th position in ERC-2021 Remote, 11th position in Indian Rover Design Challenge (IRDC) 2020. Our team has also achieved Innovation award for designing a revolutionary gas compression system for a Mars arial vehicle in IPAS-2021.  As ours is an interdisciplinary team with members from different engineering backgrounds, such as, electrical, mechanical, biomedical and computer science, our members possess knowledge and experience in a multitude of technical fields related to the competition.

Team Anveshak is a group of more than 30 enthusiastic students from IIT Madras who have a great passion for robotics. Since our inception in early 2016, we have devoted numerous days and nights to construct our own remote-controlled/autonomous all-terrain rovers, which is equipped with a robotic manipulator and soil scooper. Our team comprises of highly committed and skilled students who work in mechanical design, system architecture and control, outreach, and business relations. The technical expertise and practical experience that our team members gain are second to none, preparing them to become effective team players and leaders in both industry and research. Some of our Experiences: IRC 2019 - Champions! URC 2019- 12th Place IRC 2020 - 5th Place ERC 2021- 12th Place (Remote edition) IRDC 2021- 6th Place URC 2022- Qualified ERC 2022 - 4th Place (Remote edition, Qualification A) IRDC 2022-12th Place IRC 2023- 14th Place

Team formed in 2016. We visited ERC 2016 as guests and were inspired bu all the ingenious solution the student teams came up with. We thought we would give it a shot as well and decided to form a team. ERC 2018 Our first competition was the European Rover Challange 2018. We managed to get the fifth place and obtained a special jury price for fair play. ERC 2019 A year of preparations has come into fruition when we received the third place in European Rover Challange 2019. The competition was a lot of fun and the nights were filled with hard work. But in the end everything was worth it. ERC 2020 This year was very different in its remote aspect. We had to learn a lot more about programming and geology. Despite our background in mechanical engineering we managed to reach second place and get special award for Autonomous navigation and science report. ERC 2021 School closures had an unfortunate impact on our ability to prepare, sufficiently test all subsystems and recruit new members. However even with limited time in the workshop and only six members we managed to end up on a sixth place!

Our team has been founded in 2009 as Student’s Association OFF-ROAD, but we are more commonly known as Project Scorpio, which is the name of our main project. Even though we have been working on projects such as Project Eagle (Martian lander) and Twardovsky Colony (Martian colony), we focus on Martian rovers. So far, we have constructed 7 different rovers, with Scorpio 7 being the latest. As one of best-known associations in Poland, we are a part of dozens of events every year, including international competitions. We are currently in process of designing a new generation of Scorpio rover for the next competition season. Last year we were able to attend the first edition and be lucky enough to win. So this year we are hoping to recreate that result and improve in respective categories.

Team Mongol Barota is the dedicated robotics team formed in 2013 at the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) in Bangladesh comprising the students of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Since its inception, this ambitious little team had only one objective: to present our institute, as well as our country on a global platform with pride. As part of its contributions to the world of technology, Mongol Barota has been working on several projects over the years. Having worked on its first rover for a full year, the team participated in the University Rover Challenge (URC) of 2014, marking the first-ever time any team from Bangladesh entered this prestigious global challenge. Although the team started with limited resources and a small workforce, it earned a respectable 12th position (among 31 countries) globally, making history and paving the way for the journey that lay ahead. The team, after its unexpected success in 2014, continued with its journey in URC 2015, with a more organized team and better design. The performance of the team had greatly improved which reflected in the achievement of the global 9th place (among 44 countries).

Our team Inferno was formed in 2013 with the mission of utilizing our engineering education and putting our skills into practical use. Initially, we focused on designing go-karts and won several prizes in various national-level competitions, which boosted our confidence and motivated us to participate in more challenging events. However, in 2018, we decided to shift our focus towards the design and development of space exploration vehicles. We realized the potential of our expertise in robotics and automation in this field and set out to build our first space exploration vehicle. Since then, we have built four different iterations of space exploration vehicles, each one better than the previous, and have won numerous accolades in various national and international competitions. We take great pride in our team's journey so far and remain committed to pushing the boundaries of space technology with our innovative designs and ideas.

The team was founded in 2018. That time our first rover was developed, which was based on Crawler - a 1:2 scale prototype. It was introduced to simulate the suspension of the robot. Our team first debuted at the University Rover Challenge 2018 in Utah, USA, as well as in 2019. In 2020 we were also qualified for this competition. Until now we have constructed three new versions of the rover and participated in the European Rover Challenge four times (2018, 2019, remote 2020, on-site 2021). In 2022 we were qualified for the competition, however we could not participate. Over the years our team organized many science fairs and visited schools in order to inspire young generations with engineering.

The UIU Mars Rover Team (UMRT) comprises a group of passionate and skilled students from the United International University in Bangladesh who are driven by their love for space exploration and robotics. The team was established in 2021 and consists of enthusiastic individuals working in various fields of robotics and automation, such as embedded systems, reinforcement learning, autonomous navigation, drones, 3D design and simulation, and astrobiology. The vision of UMRT is to expand space robotics research in Bangladesh and showcase high-quality robotic systems in reputable international competitions. In 2022, the team participated in the Final round of the prestigious University Rover Challenge (URC) with their first-generation rover, MAVEN, and secured 13th out of 36 Finalists and became the TOP team among the Asian Finalists (09). This year, UMRT has developed their second generation rover TELOS and companion aerial system ICARUS. The team has qualified for the Final round of URC 2023 with an outstanding score of 93.04 and will compete in the final round from 31 May to 02 June at Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), Utah, USA. UMRT is committed to pushing the boundaries of robotics and space exploration and has consistently demonstrated its dedication to innovation and excellence. With their talented and passionate members, the team will undoubtedly continue to make a name for themselves in the field of robotics and space exploration in the future.

The team consists near 15 students from different faculties of our University. Our team were founded in 2013. We have experience in machine design, electronics, mechanical, project management, software development, biology and artificial intelligence. We participated in almost all rover’s challenges. The team gives many presentations for young people from schools and participates in thematic events gathering science enthusiasts all around the country. Our team biggest achievement is 1st place in University Rover Challenge 2018 in the USA. Our main project is current rover. That rover is 7th vehicle of our team and is called Modernity 3. Previous ones are Modernity 2+, Modernity 2, Modernity, Infinity 3, Infinity 2, Infinity 1. In the future we would like to design an own drone. The team achivements: 1st place URC 2018,3rd place URC 2017, 4th place URC 2019, 4th place ERC 2015, 6th place URC 2015, 6th place ERC 2014, 10th place URC 2016, 10th place URC 2014, 11th place ERC 2016, 11th place URC 2022.

Yıldız Rover is a multidisciplinary robotics team congregated under the student club SPARK (Space and Art Kitchen), which was established in July 2020. The team built their first-generation rover named Sparkle in 2022, followed by their second-generation rover named Flame in 2023.In 2021, the team made it to the final stage of the European Rover Challenge (ERC) held in Kielce, Poland, and finished 22nd out of 65 participating teams. In 2022, they qualified for the finals in Poland again and finished the competition in 10th place, making them one of the two Turkish teams to participate.The team also competed in the Unmanned Ground Vehicle category of TEKNOFEST, organized annually by the T3 Foundation in Turkey. Won the 3rd prize in 2021 and went on to win the 1st prize and the Presentation Special Award in the same category in 2022.In the United States, the team competed in the University Rover Challenge (URC), which was held with NASA support in Utah. Completed all stages of the competition in 2022 and qualified for the finals, finishing 24th out of 99 participating teams. Team were the only Turkish team to participate in the finals.The team also participated in the Anatolian Rover Challenge (ARC), which was held for the first time in 2022 with the support of TUA and TÜBİTAK and organized by UKET in Turkey. They finished the competition in 5th place and were ranked 1st among Turkish teams.In the course of the 2023 competition period, the team qualified as a finalist in all four competitions it participated in in 2022.

Team RoverX, started in 2014 as a part of Creation Labs at VIT University, is an all undergraduate student-driven project team. We work on developing prototypes of the Martian Rovers which are then used to compete in different national and international level competitions including University Rover Challenge (URC), European Rover Challenge (ERC) and the Indian Rover Challenge (IRC).  In 2016, at the European Rover Challenge, we were placed 12th overall and 1st in Asia. Our first participation in the University Rover Challenge held in the Mars Desert Research Station in the USA, back in May of 2018 landed us the 20th position overall and 1st in Asia, among 95 participating teams from all over the world. We had also taken part in the Indian Rover Challenge 2019, where we secured 4th place, among top international teams from Poland and Bangladesh. Also, we participated in the International Rover Design Challenge consecutively for 2 years (2021,22) and successfully secured the first position in both. This year (2023) we participated in International Rover Challenge and secured the second position worldwide.

Silesian Phoenix is a team established in 2018 by students of the inter-faculty student scientific association of Applications of Artificial Intelligence Methods AI-METH. Our team works under the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology (SUT). The crucial goal of all our projects is the practical usage of the achievements of the artificial intelligence domain in robotic applications. So far, we have constructed two different rovers. This year with fresh team we want to present and test our latest work, Phoenix III. Since the team's creation, we have taken parts in three editions of European Rover Challenge competitions. 12th place in the ERC Remote Formula competition 19th place in the ERC Stationary Formula competition

GTU Rover team brings together more than 40 students from 17 different departments across five faculties - Engineering, Science, Business Administration, Architecture, Aviation, and Space Sciences - for the same purpose. Our team was founded with the main goal of exploring different perspectives and developing innovative solutions. The biggest contribution to achieving this goal has been the unique experience of each of our members in their respective fields, enabling us to develop different perspectives. These perspectives stem from a wide range of experiences such as model satellite development, rocket design, autonomous vehicle research and development, aircraft prototyping, unmanned submarine vehicle design, materials science, and biotechnology studies. Our goals include creating the scientific and technological infrastructure in space and aviation technologies and represent our country in the best possible way in the international arena.

Team Origin: The team was established in 2018 under the METU MECH Society. The team attended ERC19 and took 4th place and the «Best Scientists» Award. Each year, the team aims to participate in relevant competitions such as ARC, ERC, and URC. Affiliation: Middle East Technical University Team Composition: The team consists of 20 undergraduate student from various departments; mechanical, electronical, computer and aerospace engineering, physics, industrial engineering and computer education. Team Structure: The team involves five sub-teams, divided as mechanics, electronics, software, science and organization and finance. While each sub-team has its team captain, there exists 1 team lead. Project Management: At the beginning of the season, the team gathered and decided on the competition to be involved, actions that should be taken, and processes that should be followed. The gantt chart and deadlines are specified with appropriate tolerances, and these deadlines have been intended to track. The team works at Sundays with whole team members; sub-teams do additional work sessions if necessary. Team meetings are held every two weeks. The team utilizes Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, Discord, and Whatsapp for management and communication purposes. Past Accomplishments and Experiences: 4th place in ERC19 and «Best Scientists» Award.

In 2021, a group of enthusiastic engineering students from IEEE Sabanci student branch established Sabanci University rover team, also known as SuRover. In the first year of establishment, the team managed to secure sponsorship agreements with key partners like Demsay Electronics and Kordsa, which provided all the necessary components. Additionally, several technical education programs were conducted in the first year, resulting in the creation of a skilled workforce. Currently, SuRover boasts 31 team members spread across five different departments. After successfully completing the production of the rover this year, the team is eagerly preparing for its first competition, ARC’23.

In April 2022, Cengaver Rover was established within the framework of IZTECH IEEE. All members of the team are students who are students in different disciplines. Before CENGAVER ROVER, there was an attempt at a Rover student project, but there was no physical output for this project. Therefore, the team has no prior experience with a challenge. Still, it hopes to be the first team to make the rover project a reality and establish a cultural activity on the IZTECH campus.

The Red Giant rover team was founded at Konya Technical University in Konya in Turkey in 2019. We have 4 sub-team; Mechanic, Electronic, Software, and Science, and the team consists of 15 people from different engineering and natural sciences. The team developed itself and its experience by designing 3 vehicles and robot arms. It is a team that cares about indigenousness with its unique design and production. The team joined ERC 2021 finals and got 8th place. Also, this year competed in the Teknofest 2023 finals.

The AdAstra Rover Team was established by five first-year students at Bahçeşehir University in March 2022. Today, the AdAstra robotics team includes 12 students from four different fields: Mechatronics Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Software Engineering. The team is developing projects for three different competitions.