RUG students participate in the European Rover Challenge.

From September 15th to 17th, teams from all over the world will compete in the European Rover Challenge, an event taking place at the Kielce University of Technology campus in Poland. On a special Mars circuit, known as the Mars Yard, participants will have their own designed Mars rovers perform various tasks on-site or remotely, based on real NASA and ESA missions. This ninth edition marks the first time a Dutch team, Makercie, is participating.

“This competition gives us the opportunity to develop our skills at an exciting pace, and our organisation, work ethic, cooperation, and technical abilities are sure to prove themselves in our performance in the challenge.”

The team, consisting of nearly 50 members from 13 different countries, comprises of AI, Computing Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics students from the University of Groningen. They were brought together in 2022 by their shared passion for space exploration, robotics, and science. The team will participate remotely in the competition with the goal of representing their university to the best of their abilities. "This competition gives us the opportunity to develop our skills at an exciting pace, and our organisation, work ethic, cooperation, and technical abilities are sure to prove themselves in our performance in the challenge," as stated by Makercie. They aim to inspire a new group of STEM students at the University of Groningen with their achievements.

Curious to see if they will win the competition? Follow their adventure! The entire event will be live-streamed on the European Rover Challenge website. You can also follow Makercie on their own social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin.