RDA Hunter’s ME Program is partnering with Obelisk Systems to stage the StarLAB Mars Rover Challenge on the 9th and 10th November.
The Mars Rover Challenge consists of the major challenge to navigate through the course, with science discovery and side challenges throughout the course. The main course can be completed in several ways based on student interest or desire for a high score. The STEM challenges aim to engage students in a broader range of STEM activities by combining the challenge of coding robotics and using scientific sensors.
The goal of the main challenge is to program a robot to navigate the Martian terrain, this can be done by writing a program or group of programs to make the rover autonomous and collect data. To encourage good coding practices, students will be given a higher score for well documented and formulated code.
While the student’s Rover is travelling through the challenge course, there will be several side quests. These side quests will involve scientific points of interest with special data to collect. Students may have to conduct experiments at school with the StarLAB to learn about collecting data from interesting sources (challenge reports).
An additional aspect of the challenge is the creation of a rover addition or enhancement. These additions should be documented and can use a variety of techniques (simple circuits, 3D printing, woodwork etc). It is encouraged that students create a design report as either a 1 page document or short 1-minute video displaying the student’s additions and explaining their purpose or inspiration. It is required to be submitted before the commencement of the Mars rover Challenge.
For more information visit http://www.obelisksystems.com/challenge/index.php?pageID=challenge