ITU Rover Team Returns from Europe with another Award

ITU Rover Team achieved a very important success on the way to Turkey’s space goal and won the first place in the European Rover Challenge 2022 with its presentation task.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Rover Team continued its tradition of success in 2022 at the European Rover Challenge, Europe’s biggest space and robotics competition held in Poland. Our team, which won a degree and also the first place in the robotic arm last year, achieved the 3rd place in the general ranking and the first place with its presentation task this year.

European Rover Challenge 2022 witnessed a fierce competition with the participation of 64 teams from 15 countries. The competition in Poland was held on a terrain that is an exact replica of the surface of Mars. Scoring 752 points, ITU Rover Team finished the competition in the 3rd place in the general category and received a standing ovation at the award ceremony this year as well.

In the European Rover Challenge, which tests different engineering skills such as challenging terrain performance, robotic arm capability and autonomous driving, ITU Rover Team was by far the fastest team to complete the autonomous navigation task. Following the example of the Rovers that are already exploring the surface of Mars on behalf of humanity, the team wants to further improve itself in autonomous systems and continue to increase its success.

The Rover’s presentation task, which constitutes an important part of the competition, tests the team spirit, teamwork and honesty of the teams besides their technical aspects. ITU Rover Team, which impressed the audience in this task, was deemed worthy of the first place in the presentation task because, in the words of the presenter, “they have great communication skills and team spirit”.

ITU Rover Team has been participating in various competitions in the USA and Poland by building a planetary exploration vehicle (Rover) with a new design every year since 2016. In addition, ITU Rover Team is one of the rare multidisciplinary teams that have students from all faculties. The team with 64 members consists of mechanical, electronics, software, science and organization sub-teams. ITU Rover Team, formed by the coming together of these sub-teams, not only waves Turkey’s flag in the international arena, but also contributes to the national economy with its UAV-like Rover project.