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The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

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The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge Combining Student Engineering Innovation, Real-World Solar System Exploration The American space program has intro- Teams registered to compete in the 2014 race duced a new student engineering design include students from 19 states and Puerto challenge – the NASA Human Exploration Rico; and international challengers representing facts Rover Challenge – which revolves around Germany, India, Mexico and Russia. NASA’s plans to explore planets, moons and asteroids across the solar system in coming Scheduled around a typical school year, the decades. The first rover challenge is set for project begins during the fall term, as teams April 11-12, 2014, at the U.S. Space & Rocket organize, solicit sponsors, design their rac- Center in Huntsville, Ala. Nearly 90 student ing machines and begin construction. Each teams will demonstrate the kind of practical team may include up to six students and a engineering skills and innovation that sustain teacher/mentor. High school students square NASA’s mission of exploration and discovery. off in one division; college and university teams compete in another. The event challenges high school, college NASA and university students to design, construct, Their challenge is to deliver a two-person, test and race mobility devices – lightweight, human-powered rover and to achieve the human-powered rovers – capable of perform- fastest vehicle assembly and race times, ing in the varied, demanding environments while avoiding penalties on a grueling to be explored by future voyagers. The chal- course. This year’s course is slightly more lenge addresses engineering problems similar than half a mile of rock, gravel, sand and to those faced by NASA engineers prepar- other materials which simulate the craters, ing for a variety of solar system exploration ridges and other formations found on the missions. It is designed to teach students to harsh surface of various worlds other than troubleshoot and solve problems, and dem- our own. Top prizes are awarded to the three onstrates NASA’s continuing commitment teams in each division that finish fastest, with to inspiring new generations of scientists, the fewest penalties. engineers, technicians and astronauts. The rover challenge builds on the 20-year legacy of the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race. Six college teams participated in the first race, held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The race was expanded in 1996 to include high school teams. More than 80 teams fielded rovers of their own design during the final race in 2013. The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is orga- Each vehicle must be solely human powered and nized by the Academic Affairs Office at NASA’s Marshall propelled by two students – one female and one Space Flight Center in Huntsville. It is sponsored by the male – over the course. Every vehicle is required Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate to have a specific set of accessories, which may at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The U.S. Space be real or simulated. They include fenders or other & Rocket Center, official visitor center of NASA’s dust abatement devices on each wheel, a high-gain Marshall Center, will host the race. antenna, a national or institution flag, two batteries, a video camera and an electronic control panel. Major corporate sponsors for the race are Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Boeing Co., Jacobs A critical element of the challenge – one that will be new Engineering ESSSA Group, Aerojet Rocketdyne and to racers familiar with the Great Moonbuggy Race – is Northrup Grumman Corp., all with operations in the wheel technology requirement. Teams must con- Huntsville. Other corporate and institutional contributors struct their own wheels. No inflatable or pneumatic tires include Science Applications International Corporation are allowed on competing rovers. In addition to building (SAIC) of Huntsville; ATK Aerospace Systems of Salt sturdy vehicles, teams must innovate when it comes to Lake City, Utah; Davidson Technologies of Huntsville; their wheels, fashioning hardware that can navigate over the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), large obstacles, provide traction and support on soft headquartered in Columbia, Md.; Teledyne Brown surfaces and cross cracks, crevasses and ruts similar to Engineering of Huntsville; the American Institute of those found on the surfaces of other solar system bodies. Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), headquartered in Reston, Va.; the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the Innovation and creativity are the goal of the competition, National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), head- but teams still must build to a number of NASA specs: quartered in Arlington, Va.; Infotech Enterprises of minimum undercarriage height is 15 inches above the East Hartford, Conn.; Corporate Office Properties ground; the vehicle must demonstrate a turning radius Trust (COPT), headquartered in Columbia, Md.; the of 15 feet or less; and maximum rover width must be no Tennessee Valley chapter of the International System greater than 5 feet. There are no restrictions on vehicle Safety Society, headquartered in Unionville, Va.; and length or height. Booz-Allen Hamilton, AI Signal Research Inc., MSB Analytics, the National Space Club, the U.S. Army To reach the starting line, teams first must demonstrate Aviation and Missile Research Development and that their folded or collapsed rovers will fit into a 5-foot- Engineering Center (AMRDEC), Redstone Federal Credit by-5-foot-by-5-foot cubic container, reflecting typical Union and Industrial Fabrication Co., all of Huntsville. transport conditions for real rovers being transported by spacecraft to destinations across the solar system. The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is Folded or collapsed rovers next are lifted by the two a flagship NASA education program implemented drivers and carried 20 feet without touching the ground, to inspire and engage America’s next generation of demonstrating lightweight portability. The rovers then scientists, technicians, engineers and mathemati- are timed during assembly, readied for the course by cians – the explorers who will carry on the nation’s the drivers and evaluated for safety by the judges. mission of discovery in the decades to come. Rovers race against the clock, rather than side-by- The rules side. Judges mark their progress, assessing time pen- First-, second- and third-place winning teams in the high alties if the drivers touch the ground, leave the course school and college divisions are selected based on the or lose required onboard equipment. Drivers having shortest total time to reconfigure their collapsed rovers extreme difficulty on the course are subject to removal. and complete the obstacle course with a minimum of Struggling racers receive a time warning at 6 minutes time penalties for various vehicle and course violations. and may be removed at the 8-minute mark if no further Each team is permitted two runs of the course. The progress can be made. Racers continuing to make shortest total rover assembly and course completion forward progress will be permitted to continue, time, plus penalties, comprises each team’s final score. however – up to the official 10-minute course time limit. The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2 NASA Facts Nearly 400 volunteers from the Marshall Center and sponsor organizations will assist with the challenge, Registered 2014 college/university teams maintaining safety at numerous busy spots on the race Auburn University (two teams), Auburn, Ala. course and serving as timekeepers, vehicle inspectors, Belvill State Community College (two teams), obstacle judges and crossing guards. Sumiton, Ala. Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Ala. Registered 2014 high school teams Cameron University (two teams), Lawton, Okla. Central Connecticut State University (two teams), Academia Menonita Summit Hills, San Juan, Puerto Rico New Britain, Conn. Academy of Arts, Careers & Technology, Reno, Nev. IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Greater Noida, India Academy of Engineering & Green Technology, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, Tenn. Hartford, Conn. Galgotias College of Engineering & Technology, Greater Arab High School, Arab, Ala. Noida, India Broad Run High & C.S. Monroe Technology School, Instituto Tecnologico de Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico Ashburn, Va. International Space Education Institute, Leipzig, Germany CBC High School Academy, Pasco, Wash. J.F. Drake State Technical College (two teams), Central Magnet School (two teams), Murfreesboro, Tenn. Huntsville, Ala. Cullman Area Career Center, Cullman, Ala. North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D. East Central High School (two teams), Moss Point, Miss. PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh, India East Limestone High School, Athens, Ala. Pittsburg State University (two teams), Pittsburg, Kan. Escambia High School, Pensacola, Fla. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. Fairhope High School (two teams), Fairhope, Ala. Purdue University Calumet (two teams), Hammond, Ind. Florence High School, Florence, Ala. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I. Franklin County High School, Winchester, Tenn. Rhodes College (two teams), Memphis, Tenn. Greenfield Central High School (two teams), Greenfield, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (two teams), Ind. Carbondale, Ill. Howell Cheney Technical High School, Manchester, Conn. SVKM-Narsee Monjee Institute-Mukesh Patel School Huntsville
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