Belfast student engineers head to Florida for Nasa lunar robot challenge

UPDATE - follow-up to Queen's University students blast off to US for Nasa robotics competition: Ten engineering students from Queen's University Belfast are travelling to Florida to compete in a Nasa lunabotics event.

The Robot and Contest

The team built a 52 kg aluminium frame robot designed to dig up lunar material, drive over obstacles, and use the material to build a wall. The students earned their spot at the international contest after winning an earlier event in Milton Keynes. They are the only European team taking part and will face university rivals from Australia, India, and the United States at the University of Central Florida.

Student Roles

PhD mechanical engineering student Jack Fitzpatrick and third-year electrical and electronic engineering student Jamie Smith helped lead the project. The team split into software, electronics, and mechanical groups to build and test the rover. Jamie led the software team in creating rover simulations and autonomous controls, while Jack worked on the mechanical side to ensure the machine could survive tough environments and maintain traction. The rover's main goal is to drive itself around a simulated lunar room, pick up sand representing moon dirt, and drop it at another spot.

Context

Lunabotics competitions use space agency engineering methods to help design machines that could one day build habitats for humans on the moon. Events like this bring together top student teams from around the world to test new ideas in robotics and automation.