URC2026 Preliminary Design Review

Preliminary Design Review

Preliminary Design Review Reports are due no later than 11:59pm Mountain Standard Time (MST; UTC-7) on December 3, 2025.

PDR Reports must be submitted through this Google Form (link removed).

Format and Submission Details

Preliminary Design Review (PDR) Reports are limited to a total of 5 pages. Pages 1-2 may contain text and graphics (images, figures, etc.); pages 3-5 may only contain graphics with captions. Pages should be in letter paper size (8.5 in. x 11 in.), with margins no smaller than 1 in. (2.5 cm), text in Calibri 11 point font (or similarly sized font), and single spaced. Graphics and images are allowed within the page limit. PDR Reports may be submitted at any time prior to the deadline, and will be reviewed by judges on a rolling basis. PDR Reports must be submitted no later than the due date (December 3, 2025). This is a considered a non-competitive review milestone, meaning that reports will only be assessed on their own merits.

A header at the top of the first page must identify the URC team's name, university, city and country, the student team lead, and an additional optional point of contact.

Electronic submissions are required in *.pdf file format only. Files should be uploaded via the Google Form linked above.

Report Content

The PDR Report is expected to focus on the team structure, resources, project management plan, and preliminary technical design. Judges will be assessing each team's overall level of readiness to undertake the URC competition, specifically whether teams will be ready to submit a System Acceptance Review package by late February, and be prepared to compete by May (if selected). Judges view this report as a tool that will help teams to solidify and articulate the essential elements of a successful team early in the competition cycle.

The following are essential elements of information that teams are required to address. Teams may discuss any other topics that they feel are appropriate.

1. Team Structure

This section should be brief. Discuss your team's structure, to include the leadership and overall membership. A summary of the backgrounds of team members (which academic departments are represented, relevant experience, etc.) should also be discussed. Briefly discuss your team’s recruiting/training plans, and educational/public outreach plans (note: educational outreach is different than your team's recruiting plan).

2. Team Resources

Discuss your team's financial and facility resources. This should include a project budget, your fundraising and financial management plan, and your access to appropriate design and fabrication spaces. Finances should be listed in USD (United States Dollars). The project budget should be presented as a table, including income categories and total to date, expense categories, total required, funding required, and income sources that satisfy the deficit (if any).  Teams are strongly encouraged to use the provided Project Budget Table template.

Simply stating that you will build a budget and raise funds is considered insufficient - please describe your budget, fundraising plan, etc.

3. Project Management Plan

Discuss your team's overall approach to the URC system development life cycle (e.g. plan, design, manufacture, integrate, test). This plan should explain how you intend to solve the problems, not necessarily the exact solution. Technical design details may be provided to support the project management plan discussion.

Additional required elements of the Project Management Plan include:

• • A work schedule in the form of a Gantt chart specifying responsible people/subteams, tasks throughout the URC system development life cycle, and dates (specify who is doing what, and when);

  • Document sharing and knowledge management plan;

  • Systems engineering and integration plan;

  • Testing and evaluation plan.

The Gantt chart should include at least the period September, 2025 through June, 2026. Specify when the team is testing remote communication, navigation, manipulation and science tasks required for competition. The chart must be of sufficient resolution so it is readable when enlarged.  Teams are strongly encouraged to follow the guidance for creating Gantt Charts. The Gantt chart should also be aligned with the team's system architecture, and highlight the systems under development for URC2026.

4. Preliminary Technical Design

Teams must present their system architecture, specifically differentiating which subsystems are a) new for URC2026; b) being modified from a prior rover; or c) being reused without modification from a prior rover. This may be shown in system architecture diagram(s) of the team's choosing.

Teams should present their preliminary technical design for major rover systems (e.g. mobility, communications, arm, command and control, science payload). Details are encouraged, but not required. 

For URC2026 judges will place an increased emphasis on teams clearly differentiating between systems carried over from prior years' work, and what is being developed during the URC2026 competition cycle.

Penalties

Teams may be penalized for violating the format requirements, failing to provide proper citations, or other critical issues as assessed by the judges.

Tips From the Judges

• • Read all PDR requirements and the Tips From the Judges section carefully. The majority of PDR feedback has historically been when teams don't follow the instructions/guidance.

  • Use all five pages allowed.

  • Read and follow all of the instructions. This includes following the format instructions as specified. No text other than captions should appear on pages 3-5!

  • A full biography of each team member is not required when addressing Team Structure! Be thoughtful about the space devoted to each section of your report.

  • Simply stating that your team has a subsection of the plan (“we will create and follow a test and evaluation plan”) will be considered insufficient. The goal is to demonstrate to judges that your team has a plan tailored for you that will help you be successful.

  • Do not rely on your team's past success as a substitute for addressing the required elements of information.

  • While 5 pages may seem short for the information requested, the format is designed to keep your report focused and concise.

  • Use pages 3-5 effectively by including:

    • A graphical organization chart showing how the team is organized;

    • Project Budget Table (list income sources, anticipated expenses by category, and what remains to be raised, all provided in USD);

    • Gantt chart (specify dates, not just the number of elapsed weeks; specify tasks, not just milestones);

    • System architecture diagram(s) that can be used to illustrate new work being undertaken for the current competition cycle.

    • Picture(s) of design graphics, or any fabricated components/systems.

  • Additional resources and guidance on creating proper budget tables and Gantt charts is available. Teams are strongly encouraged to follow this guidance.