Students scoop top award
A team of our engineering students have won a major national competition for their efforts to design a robot rover capable of exploring the surface of Mars.
Members of the GU Orbit student satellite society picked up the top prize at the 2024-25 Olympus Rover Trials, beating teams from 14 universities across the UK.
In addition to winning the overall competition, the team, called Banana Island, also received awards for Best Critical Design Review and Best Innovation.
The Olympus Rover Trials simulate the design and deployment challenges faced in planetary exploration missions. Teams are tasked with designing, building and operating a research rover capable of remote terrain exploration and imaging, which are key elements of real-world missions for future Mars exploration.
The competition also includes a vibration test to evaluate each rover’s ability to withstand the stresses of launch conditions.
The 2025 challenge was based on the TERRA (Terrain Exploration and Remote Reconnaissance for Analysis) mission concept. Each team’s rovers were required to explore a crater-like environment, navigate varying terrain, and capture high-resolution images of designated points of geological interest.
The winning team’s rover, which featured a robotic arm that improved camera positioning and data capture in constrained conditions, met all mission objectives. It successfully completed a simulated launch vibration test, traversed a wet and uneven terrain under difficult weather conditions, and accurately located and imaged QR codes representing geological targets.