Monash University student team selected to compete in Mars robot challenge

Monash University’s Nova Rover Team have become the first Australian student group to be selected to compete in the University Rover Challenge, an international competition to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside human explorers in the field.

Held in Utah, the Monash University team will be one of 36 international teams competing for cash prizes and a trip to present at the annual International Mars Society Convention. Comprising of mostly engineering and science students, the Monash Nova Rover Team will be assessed on their ability to develop a mobile robotic device that can successfully assist with fieldwork in a hostile environment such as the planet Mars.    

“The rover has to have the capability to function as a fieldwork assistant that can bring materials and information back to a base station,” explains Team Leader Ben Steer, Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics) and Bachelor of Science (Computational Science and Mathematics). “It needs to traverse extreme terrain, navigate autonomously and conduct fieldwork tasks, including collection and analysis of geological samples. We’ll be assessed on how well the rover can do this, as well as the science behind our methods.”  

Says Science Team Lead Daniel Ricardo, Bachelor of Science Geoscience (Extended) and Biochemistry student, "We're absolutely blown away by the opportunity to represent Australia at the URC, alongside equally talented and high calibre teams from across the globe. We conducted a field test during mid-semester break where we conducted a full systems test and trial run to iron out any kinks and identify areas to work on in the lead up to the competition."

Boasting a multi-disciplinary team including students from Science, Law, Business, Engineering and Medicine, the members applied cross-disciplinary learnings into the design of the rover (nicknamed ‘Rovey’). The Science team’s geological understanding of the Mars environment, combined with the design expertise of the Engineering team resulted in a rover design that can potentially be used in future manned missions to the Red Planet.

Academic supervisor and senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Chao Chen provides technical advice to the student team. “They always come up with the best and simplest solutions though, and are talented and highly self-motivated,“ he says. “Their passion gives the team a great chance of success, and the University Rover Challenge gives us a real opportunity to show the world the calibre of students we have at Monash. We hope that more students will be attracted to study engineering if they’re aware of the type of impact they can make. We also hope that an Australian Rover Challenge will be established in a near future.”

Check out the Nova Rover in action during the team's recent field test: