14 DAY TRIAL // There is a lot of commotion going on in Poland's Swietokrzyskie region these days. Thus, the area is packed with Mars exploration rover wannabes, all of which are eager to prove that they have what it takes to successfully complete space missions.
The robots arrived in the area looking to take part in this year's European Rover Challenge, a competition organized by NGO Mars Society Polska. The event debuted this past September 5 and will run until September 7.
As part of this competition, prototype Mars rovers built by students at various universities across the world will have to complete a total of 5 tasks, 4 of which are to take place in Mars-like conditions, Space explains.
The goal is to determine how well these robots would perform if sent to explore the Red Planet. The tasks that they must complete are designed to test their navigation skills. Their ability to collect rock and soil samples, and carry them to base will too be put to the test.
Interestingly enough, it looks like the Mars rover wannabes will also have to prove that they are well able to fix a broken mock reactor system, and grab hold of and carry a spare part kept in storage all the way to a repair site.
“The challenge is to design, construct and operate a rover that will that will most successfully complete a number of Mars-exploration themed tasks designed by the organizers,” NGO Mars Society Polska explains in a statement.
The event's organizers say that as many as 24 teams have announced their intention to take part in this year's European Rover Challenge. These teams comprise students from Canada, Australia, Colombia, Bangladesh, India, Egypt, the UK, the US, and Poland.
Each of the teams was supposed to build a prototype Mars rover without spending more than $15,000 (€11,590) on the project. What's more, the space exploration enthusiasts had to raise the funds they needed to piece together their robots themselves.
To ensure that the competition would be fair-play, the technology aficionados were told that none of the teams could be made up entirely of Ph.D. students. In fact, competition rules clearly state that doctoral students could not comprise over 50% of each team.
The winners of this year's European Rover Challenge are to be announced this coming Sunday, September 7, at about 4 p.m. local time, shortly after the would-be space robots are done battling it out in mock Mars exploration missions.