ICY SCIENCE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE VOL 1 ISSUE 1 | Page 34

34 ? ? R O V E R S A N D S PAC E S H I P S E V E RY W H E R E !???????????????????????????????????? The University Rover Challenge (URC) is the world’s premier robotics competition for college students. The URC has officially kicked off its 2014 competition. This competition challenges students to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers which will one day work alongside astronauts on the Red Planet. Teams spend the academic year designing, building and testing their robotic creations. They will compete at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the remote, barren desert of southern Utah in late May, 2014. The challenge features multiple tasks, including an Equipment Servicing Task that incorporates inflatable structures, and a more aggressive incarnation of the popular Terrain Traversing Task. URC is unique in the challenges that it presents to students. Interdisciplinary teams will tackle robotics, engineering and field science domains, while gaining real-world systems engineering and project management experience. University teams interested in participating can view the URC2014 rules online. The official registration process will open in early November; however ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014