Edinburgh, 12 September 2022. – The 8th edition of the largest space robotics competition, the European Rover Challenge, (ERC) has concluded this Sunday with announcing the winners. The hybrid competition included 30 academic teams from almost all continents.
The audience had access to a replica of Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, and could travel to the seabed of the Pacific Ocean. The could also control rovers and walking robots, as well as meet space agency experts.
The rover competition took place on the world’s largest artificial Marsyard, a track inspired by the Martian plains of Utopia Planitia and Elysium Planitia. The tasks to be accomplished mirrored the challenges of real Martian missions.
First prizes were awarded to Polish AGH Space Systems and DJS Antariksh from India. Second place went to EPFL Xplore from Switzerland and Mars Rover Manipal from India. The Turkish ITU Rover Team and Project RED from Italy managed to come third place. In addition to podium prizes, there were Best Performance awards in navigation, maintenance, science, probing and presentation. The main prizes were sponsored by SENER and Mastercam. Additional prizes were presented on behalf of Thales Alenia Space Italy, Oprogramowanie Naukowo-Techniczne and Pyramid Games.
ERC 2022 was co-organized by the European Space Foundation, Kielce University of Technology and Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship. The event was supported by the European Space Agency, the International Astronautical Federation and the Polish Space Industry Association.
