Mars Rover Team

The Project
Our club, the University of Dayton Mars Rover Team, is working to prepare and qualify for the Canadian International Rover Competition in the summer of 2024. To get there, we have to use our science, engineering, and math skills to find novel and innovative solutions to the challenges posed to us.

Our build team has been tasked to build a robot that is able to pull heavy weight over rough terrain, do maintenance on equipment, and take soil samples for our science team to analyze for signs of life and fuel.

The science team must develop a method to test these samples on or off the rover in a safe and timely manner in order to identify signs of life, metals, and water. 

The computer team is charged with developing and coding a system to take and analyze sensor data, control the rover remotely, and enable autonomous movement. The computer team is also tasked with designing and building the electrical systems for the rover to power and interact with motors, sensors, and onboard computers and microcontrollers.

Who We Are
The University of Dayton Mars Rover Team was started in August 2019 to give students at all levels the opportunity to be a member of a multidisciplinary robotics design team. We aim to design, build, and program a functional rover to compete in competitions within North America. Our quest to build an operational rover helps our members further develop the skills they've learned in the classroom as well as their communication and cooperation skills through teamwork. By working with the University, we are looking to build a foundation of robotics knowledge within our student body and campus community and to become a resource for them as well.

The Impact
This team gives students of all engineering disciplines the opportunity to apply the knowledge that they gain in the classroom to a practical setting alongside students studying other disciplines. This presents challenges when it comes to designing as well as communicating between the different teams. For example, the computer team and the build team have to work together in order to have motors and a battery capable of providing the torque needed to move the weight of the rover which can also be controlled through the communications system.

In terms of learning how to fail, all engineering disciplines will face challenges and there is no right answer for designs or lines of code, both in robotics and the real world. This means that we will try things that aren’t going to work realistically when they might be the best theoretical option, which will help teach all team members how to respond to failure and how to learn from it and move on to the next idea in the most productive way.

Throughout testing and analysis, students will learn how to interpret data and make decisions driven by the trends that they are seeing. This will prepare them for the workforce where decisions are data-based and set the rover up for success by ensuring that the best decisions are made. Students will also have the opportunity to step up into leadership positions in the team, and these positions are open to everyone from freshmen to grad students.

What Your Gifts Will Do
Building a fully operational rover and getting it, and our team, to Canada, is quite expensive, but with your gifts, we can come closer to covering the cost of all of this! Your gifts will be put towards buying supplies, like aluminum for a chaise frame, sensors, motors, wheels, batteries, testing equipment, and many other items that will allow us to prototype our final design and build the rover.  Your gifts will also help us to offset the cost of going to competition for our members, enabling any many of us to make it to competition as possible.

Share this Message
Even if you are not able to help us monetarily at the moment, we would greatly appreciate it if you could share this page with friends and family and follow us on social media! Anything you can do to help spread the word about our campaign brings us one step closer to achieving our goal!

Thanks for Your Support!
We greatly appreciate your support, whether you donate or spread the word about our campaign! Thank you for helping us build our rover and get to competition!