SEC. 02 / MISSION
ERC Mission
The European Rover Challenge is Europe's leading robotics competition on simulated Martian terrain. Autonomous navigation, manipulation, science: real tasks, real terrain, real judges.
WHAT IT IS
Mars, to scale, in Poland
Every year university teams from around the world bring their rover to a field that reproduces the Martian surface. It is not a demo: it is a competition with timed tasks, judges from the space industry and a score that measures how well the rover actually does its job.
THE FIELD TASKS
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T-01
Navigation
The rover crosses the terrain on its own, with no operator and no GPS, reaching marked waypoints.
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T-02
Science
Collecting and analysing samples to answer geological questions about the site, like a real mission would.
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T-03
Maintenance
Operating a control panel: switches, connectors and instruments designed for human operators.
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T-04
Transport
Finding, picking up and delivering objects on the field, combining mobility and the robotic arm.