U of S team wins European rover challenge

The U of S students finished in first place among 40 teams from around the world that took part in the European Rover Challenge (ERC) on Sept. 5-6 in Podzamcze, Poland. The host Polish team from Bialystok University of Technology placed second, while the McGill University robotics team was third. ‎The ERC is the biggest space robotics open air event in Europe.

The U of S students had to build a rover that could handle simulated Mars exploration tasks, competing in five separate challenges: draft design, a promotional video, technical specifications, four terrain tasks and project presentation. The USST team earned a score of 456.5 points on Sunday, finishing 36 points ahead of the second-place team.

"We are so happy with our outcome, and we can't wait to get some rest. We're looking forward to continuing work on the rover, and have seen a lot of cool design ideas this weekend," the USST posted on its website.

U of S team members are available for interviews today:

Jack Fotheringham, USST president (306) 221-2353 pres@usst.ca

Austin Shirley, VP Engineering (306) 370-7954 vpeng@usst.ca

More on the USST team's entry is available here, with more information on the European Rover Challenge competition here.

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For more information, contact:
Kate Blau
Communications Officer
College of Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-7924, (306) 370-2383
kate.blau@usask.ca

James Shewaga
Media Relations Specialist
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-1851
james.shewaga@usask.ca