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Friday, February 7, 2025

Northeastern College Mars Rover Workforce wins Winter Canadian Worldwide Problem


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The Northeastern Mars Rover team took home its first gold last month at the inaugural Winter Canadian International Rover Challenge. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Brooke Chalmers, who research laptop science, and Jason Kobrin, who research mechanical engineering, work on the Mars Rover within the Richards Corridor Makerspace. Credit score: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern College

When the scholar leaders of the Northeastern College Mars Rover Workforce determined they have been going to take part within the inaugural Winter Canadian Worldwide Rover Problem, they thought it will be good follow greater than the rest.

They didn’t anticipate to win the competitors. But, that’s precisely what occurred.

The Northeastern workforce took dwelling the gold final month, beating McMaster College for the highest spot with a rating of 237.71 factors to McMaster’s 137.13.

“It was fairly big for us when it comes to workforce morale,” stated Brooke Chalmers, a third-year pupil at Northeastern and the combination lead and software program co-lead for the Mars rover group. “It actually felt like all of the hours that we put in in the course of the prior weeks paid off in a manner.”

It’s the primary competitors win for the six-year-old membership, which consists of scholars learning laptop science, engineering, and life science.

The college workforce of about 50 college students had been laborious at work creating and iterating on its newest robotic rover: the Watney, Mark V. 

Coming in at 50 kg (110 lb.), the rover includes a 5052 aluminum alloy chassis, six 3D-printed nylon wheels, a robotic arm with end-of-arm tooling (EOAT), a life-detection module for pattern assortment, and 14 onboard cameras. 

The Canadian competitors was damaged up into 4 challenges designed to place college students’ rovers by way of simulated environments just like duties a rover might need to finish whereas on Mars’ floor. Every problem was ranked utilizing a 100-point scale.  

Within the Arm Dexterity Problem, for instance, college students have been tasked with controlling the rover’s robotic arm to revive energy to a campsite. The problem concerned navigating the robotic by way of 4 management panels the place the robotic arm needed to press buttons and flip switches, defined Jason Kobrin, a fourth-year pupil at Northeastern and a mechanical operations co-lead for the Mars rover group.

The robotic arm on the Northeastern team's Mars Rover.

The robotic arm on the Northeastern workforce’s Mars Rover. Credit score: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern College

Northeastern workforce redesigns robotic arm for power

Of the 4 groups collaborating within the problem, Northeastern scored the best for the problem, with a rating of 49.49 factors. 

Kobrin stated the workforce has spent the previous yr finishing redesigning the robotic’s arm, which was once one of many rover’s weak factors throughout earlier competitions. It’s now one of many rover’s largest strengths. The robotic arm has six levels of freedom and may carry hundreds as much as about 10 kg (22 lb.). 

“As a way to enhance that, we redesigned our arm this yr to make use of higher motors and to be simpler to regulate general,” he stated. 

It’s by collaborating in these competitions and thru common testing the place the workforce was in a position to slender in on the rover’s shortcomings and enhance its capabilities, Kobrin stated. By engaged on the rover, college students are additionally getting the chance to enhance their very own abilities. 

“Each week, it’s steady enchancment,” he famous. “Whether or not it’s including a brand new portion of software program code [or] whether or not designing a brand new mount for our cameras, each little enchancment makes an enormous distinction.” 

“For everyone to have the ability to design and construct this robotic to operate properly but in addition to have the ability to management it in high-pressure conditions and to succeed in the objectives we have been in search of to succeed in, is simply actually spectacular,” added Kobrin. 

The workforce thought the two-day occasion hosted in Niagara Falls, Ontario, can be an important primer to check out the capabilities of the machine earlier than the workforce took half within the upcoming annual College Rover Problem (URC). The URC is the Mars Society’s premier Mars rover pupil competitors held on the Mars Desert Analysis Heart exterior Hanksville, Utah. 

The URC competitors is outdated hat for the group, having participated within the problem in 2019, 2022, and 2023. The competitors was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

“We went into this competitors pondering, ‘OK, we’re going to make use of this as a chance to arrange for URC. We’re going to check stuff to verify all of it works,’” Chalmers stated.

Connecting parts for the University Rover Challenge.

The scholars will likely be competing on the College Rover Problem this spring. Images by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern College

Tough terrain and workforce pleasure

The workforce had its finest exhibiting in the course of the Winter Transversal Problem, with a ending rating of 84.72 factors. For the problem, the rover needed to roll by way of treacherous and uneven terrain whereas avoiding obstacles.

“All of the challenges concerned some extent of the rover driving round and shifting over tough terrain, however this problem was targeted totally on that,” stated Chalmers. 

With the general win, Chalmers stated she’s hopeful that new members will likely be excited to affix. 

“Most individuals on the workforce have been speaking about this with their family and friends and speaking about what we’re doing, which is admittedly cool,” she stated. “I do know a number of of my mates have expressed curiosity in becoming a member of the workforce since. It’s very thrilling to have one thing to speak about and have one thing to indicate for all the trouble we put in.”


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Cesareo Contreras, Northeastern University.In regards to the creator

Cesareo Contreras is a Northeastern International Information reporter and has lined robotics extensively. This text is reposted with permission.

 

 

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