URC News
Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021 Gets Teams Roving
Although the COVID-19 global health pandemic forced the cancellation of the URC2021 Finals, many teams and their rovers were still anxious to test their capabilities and showcase their hard work. The URC staff developed a special event just for this situation: the Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021. The Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021 offered teams the opportunity to build courses on their own campuses, and compete remotely with judges and fans tuning in online from around the world. Three URC missions were modified for this format: the Equipment Servicing Mission, Autonomous Navigation Mission, and Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission. 13 teams from 5 countries were able to compete June 3-6, with all sessions live streamed (and now archived!) via the URC YouTube Channel. Each team's competition experience was unique - operating on test hardware that they built, and from their own campuses. Judges were fortunate enough to go on a virtual world tour, with the opportunity to see each team operating in their home environments. While the virtual event was no replacement for the URC Finals, this was a tremendous opportunity to see passionate students and their rovers hard at work again! Equipment Servicing Mission The Equipment Servicing Mission required teams to perform a series of dexterous manipulation tasks, operating equipment that is typically designed for a human. This includes opening a drawer, placing a toolbox in that drawer, and closing it; typing a command on a keyboard; and turning a screw to tighten it. MIST Mongol Barota from the Military Institute of Science & Technology in Bangladesh achieved the only perfect score of this mission. Autonomous Navigation Mission For the Autonomous Navigation Mission rovers are required to navigate to a series of visual markers, without human operator control. This complex mission has traditionally been one of the hardest for teams, requiring the development of autonomy software that fuses multiple sensor inputs. For the virtual version, teams provided the coordinates of an open field on their campus; judges would send detailed instructions to an independent "post placer" responsible for setting up the course. Rover operators would receive a minimal set of approximate coordinates to help guide the rover. While teams did struggle in this mission, BRACU Mongol-Tori from BRAC University in Bangladesh was able to successfully reach an impressive 3 gates. Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission The Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission typically sends rovers racing around the extreme terrain of the Mars Desert Research Station, searching for supplies to deliver to astronauts. While teams couldn't replicate this extreme terrain on their local campuses, judges chose a series of simplified tasks meant to stress rovers' ability to perform basic operations that could support an astronaut. This included carrying and accurately delivery both large and small packages; ascending a steep incline; and surviving a staggering 1 meter vertical descent. Multiple teams were able to complete 5 of the 6 tasks, but only Husky Robotics from the University of Washington in the United States was able to survive the harrowing descent, being rewarded with the only perfect score of this mission. Looking Ahead The URC judges and staff are hopeful that 2022 will see a return of the URC Finals at the Mars Desert Research Station, the greatest rover playground on the planet! Until then, the judges and staff hope that everybody stays safe and healthy! |
Watch the Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021 June 3-6
The University Rover Challenge is excited to host 15 teams from 7 countries as they compete in 3 missions live from their home campuses! All of the rover action will be live streamed on the URC YouTube Channel, June 3-6. Teams' competition times will be split into two separate sessions. The first session will consist of the Equipment Servicing Mission and the Autonomous Navigation Mission. The second session will consist of the Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission. Competition Schedule All times are MDT (UTC-6; officially known as Mountain Daylight Time, but we prefer to think of it as Mars Desert Time!) Thursday, June 3 03:00 - Pharaohs Team - Session 1 17:00 - Sooner Rover Team - Session 1 20:00 - MIST Mongol Barota - Session 1 Friday, June 4 00:00 - Pharaohs Team - Session 2 04:00 - AGH Space Systems - Session 1 08:00 - NUROVER - Session 1 10:00 - AGH Space Systems - Session 2 11:30 - OzU Rover Team - Session 1 13:30 - NUROVER - Session 2 15:00 - Rose-Hulman Rover Team - Session 1 17:00 - Sooner Rover Team - Session 2 22:00 - MIST Mongol Barota - Session 2 Saturday, June 5 04:00 - OzU Rover Team - Session 2 06:00 - PCz Rover Team - Session 1 08:00 - Mountaineers - Session 1 10:00 - No Session [Space Concordia Robotics has withdrawn due to technical issues.] 12:00 - Rose-Hulman Rover Team - Session 2 14:00 - Husky Robotics - Session 1 18:00 - No Session [Monash Nova Rover has been forced to withdraw due to local COVID-19 lockdown protocol.] 02:00 - BRACU Mongol-Tori - Session 1 [Rescheduled due to weather and safety.] 23:00 - No Session [Monash Nova Rover has been forced to withdraw due to local COVID-19 lockdown protocol.] Sunday, June 6 00:00 - BRACU Mongol-Tori - Session 2 [Rescheduled due to weather and safety.] 06:00 - PCz Rover Team - Session 2 08:00 - Mountaineers - Session 2 09:30 - Wisconsin Robotics - Session 1 11:00 - Rover Team - Session 1 12:45 - No Session [Space Concordia Robotics has withdrawn due to technical issues.] 14:00 - Wisconsin Robotics - Session 2 15:30 - Rover Team - Session 2 17:00 - Husky Robotics - Session 2 |
Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021 Rules Posted
Although the COVID-19 global pandemic forced the cancellation of the URC2021 Finals, the URC team is excited to announce the Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021! Teams will have the opportunity to compete in three missions: the Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission, the Equipment Servicing Mission, and the Autonomous Navigation Mission. The Virtual University Rover Challenge 2021 will be held June 3-5, 2021, with teams competing at their local campuses or communities. The rules and instructions are posted publicly so that any team may participate, however only teams who placed in the top 36 of the URC2021 System Acceptance Review (SAR) will be scored live by judges. The rules are posted here. This virtual event does not take the place of the URC2021 Finals, but is being offered as a fun opportunity for teams to test their rovers and share their experiences with the global Rover Challenge Series community! |
Statement Regarding Cancellation of URC2021 Finals
This year and every year, the University Rover Challenge aims to provide the best possible educational experience to students, while ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone involved. While we are encouraged by the current COVID-19 public health metrics and increase in global vaccine distribution, conditions are not at a point that permit large-scale events requiring travel of geographically dispersed groups. Unfortunately, due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the URC2021 Finals have been cancelled. We are currently assessing the feasibility of a virtual competition in lieu of the URC2021 Finals and will communicate details with teams soon. Results from the System Acceptance Review will also be announced in the coming days. The URC judges and staff admire the perseverance of teams who have found ways to adapt to conditions over the past year and have worked hard to be prepared for URC2021. We have been watching the conditions closely in the hopes that an in-person Finals would be feasible. Much to our disappointment, we will have to wait for the URC2022 Finals to see teams and their rovers in person. |
System Acceptance Review Requirements Posted
At this time in early 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the majority of URC teams. The foremost priority for URC remains the health, safety, and wellbeing of our teams. Teams are urged to follow all applicable health and safety guidelines, and not take unnecessary risks if you are working on your rover. System Acceptance Review: The System Acceptance Review (SAR) will take place as planned. Regardless of the fate of the URC2021 Finals, the SAR is an invaluable part of URC's educational process. Updated requirements have been posted to the System Acceptance Review page, and include guidance on adjustments that should be made based on the impact of COVID-19.
URC2021 Finals: We anticipate making a decision regarding the URC2021 Finals in March, 2021 (after the SAR deadline). Due to the highly dynamic nature of this pandemic it is difficult to predict what the conditions will allow in June. Please understand that planning factors can, and will, change, but our decisions will always be guided by health and safety considerations. |
Protocase Returns as URC Sponsor, Hosts Webinar
The Mars Society is proud to welcome Protocase back as a major sponsor of the world-renowned University Rover Challenge! More than 14,000 engineers and designers in science and innovation around the world depend on Protocase for custom-manufacturing electronic enclosures, sheet metal parts, machined parts and components in two to three days, with no minimum orders. Instead of using critical design time and effort taking off-the-shelf enclosures, parts and components and modifying them fit your Mars Rover design, all teams registered in the 2021 University Rover Challenge can harness Protocase's state-of-the-art manufacturing to have exactly what they need custom fabricated. URC2021 Protocase Sponsorship  The Protocase Sponsorship will be similar to the sponsorship offered in previous years:
Check out The Journey of the University Rover Challenge, which documents the experience of URC teams who worked with Protocase. How Teams Can Work With Protocase Protocase has developed a tutorial webinar that explains the manufacturing process, and how teams can work with Protocase. This link has been sent directly to teams. Teams can also email info@protocase.com to be connected with their designated Protocase account manager. To learn more about Protocase's custom sheet metal fabrication and CNC Machining, check out the articles on their blog, or tech video playlist. |
URC2021 Registration Opens!
Registration for the 2021 University Rover Challenge is now open through October 28, 2020! Details and a link to the registration form are available at the URC Team Info page. Teams will also be required to pay a $38 (USD) application fee, however due to the timing of the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention we have not yet started accepting payments. We anticipate providing teams with application fee payment details no later than October 19, and will allow teams until November 4 to submit payments. |
2021 University Rover Challenge Rules Released
The University Rover Challenge is excited to announce the release of the rules for URC2021! Registration for the 2021 competition will open in September, 2020, and will close on October 28, 2020. All registered teams will be required to submit a Preliminary Design Review package by December 4, 2020, and a System Acceptance Review milestone will follow on March 5, 2021. The top 36 teams will be selected to compete in the 2021 University Rover Challenge Finals, held June 3-5, 2021 at the renowned Mars Desert Research Station. The rules for 2021 are identical to the rules from the 2020 competition (which was unfortunately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Teams and rovers will compete in 4 missions in 2021: the Science Mission, Extreme Retrieval and Delivery Mission, Equipment Servicing Mission, and Autonomous Traversal Mission. It is important to note that URC2021 is being planned and will occur in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. At the time that the rules were published it is uncertain what the state of the pandemic will be in June, 2021 for the URC2021 Finals. As such, it is possible that the URC2021 Finals may need to be modified, or even cancelled, based on conditions at that time. Teams should continue to monitor the URC website (including the COVID-19 page) for updates. |
Announcing the URC2020 Finals Qualifiers
Unfortunately the URC2020 Finals were cancelled due to the impacts of COVID-19, but not before teams were able to submit their System Acceptance Review packages. While there will be no final scores or rankings for URC2020, we are proud to announce the 36 teams whose scores would have qualified for the URC2020 Finals!
2020 was another extremely competitive year for URC, with 93 teams originally competing, and 68 teams submitting SAR Packages. This year the threshold to finish in the top 36 teams of the SAR and qualify for the URC2020 Finals was 81 points.
Congratulations to our URC2020 Finals Qualifiers, as well as all of the teams for their hard work and ambition throughout this project!
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URC2020 Finals Cancelled In Response to COVID-19
Updated March 16, 2020 Sunday evening, March 15, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new guidance recommending the cancellation or postponement of events consisting of more than 50 people in the United States. The URC2020 Finals are scheduled to take place in approximately 10 weeks, but would bring together more than 500 individuals from around the world. In light of this recent guidance, the University Rover Challenge and Mars Society have made the decision to cancel the URC2020 Finals. This was a decision made with very heavy hearts, but the reality is that the latest CDC guidance made this an easy and obvious decision. As we have emphasized in each of our announcements regarding the COVID-19 situation, the number one priority of URC is the safety and well-being of our participants, volunteers, and the local community. We will begin notifying teams of their System Acceptance Review scores throughout this week. For those of you who are facing restrictions or disruptions to your academic and living situations, we wish you luck in adjusting to your new routines. We also hope that you and your families stay healthy and safe during this situation. Please continue to follow the guidance of your universities and local communities, and practice prevention measures. Additional guidance for the response in the United States is also available from the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html). # # # March 14, 2020 Update Now as much as always, the number one priority of URC is the safety and well-being of our participants, volunteers, and the local community. At this point our primary concern is less about the situation in late May (which is still incredibly difficult to predict), and more about the situation over the next few weeks for teams who are facing university closures or other restrictions. URC is continuing to monitor the status at each of your universities (when information is publicly available). We anticipate additional announcements will be made by universities early next week, which we will be monitoring and factoring into our decisions. Because this situation is so dynamic, we are not (as of today) in a position to make a rational and well-reasoned decision about the competition at the end of May. However, we will be delaying the announcement of System Acceptance Review results so that no teams will be rushing to make travel arrangement when so much uncertainty continues to exist. We must also advise teams of the importance of following your university's and local officials' guidance! Your rover is important, but not as important as your own health, and the safety of your community. This is a public health situation - each of our individual actions have an impact on the world around us, and we each have a responsibility to act with a social conscience! Student Team Leads in particular have a responsibility to ensure your teams are following local guidance. If your university has restricted access to labs or large group meetings, you are responsible for ensuring your team follows these rules! Social distancing continues to be a critical component of the global response to COVID-19. We will continue to be in touch with teams over the coming days and weeks as we navigate this situation. If you have any concerns at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly. More information about COVID-19 and the response in the United States can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html# # # Original Post (March 10, 2020) As many of you are likely aware, there is currently a global health situation related to Coronavirus Disease 2019, or COVID-19. URC and the Mars Society are continuing to monitor how this is developing, in addition to monitoring the guidance published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. The number one priority of URC is the safety and well-being of our participants, volunteers, and the local community. With that in mind, it is impossible for us to predict how the COVID-19 situation will evolve over the next 2.5 months. It would be premature for us to make any decisions at this point in time. We are planning for URC2020 to take place as scheduled at the end of May with the understanding that hard decisions may follow in the weeks to come. Updates will continue to be sent out via the URC-Announce email list and posted to the URC website. However, we encourage all of you to consult with your team members and your university about your team's decision to attend.
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