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European Rover Challenge (ERC, ERC Space & Robotics) is an annual Martian robot competition held in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. It began in 2014 at the ''Regional Science and Technology Centre'' in
Chęciny Chęciny is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, southern Poland, with 4,361 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was first mentioned in historical documents from 1275, and obtained its Magdeburg rights, city charter in 1325. At ...
, and until 2023 has been held in Jasionka, Starachowice, and Kielce. In 2024 the competition is planned to be held at the
AGH University of Krakow AGH University of Krakow, (abbreviated as ''AGH University''; formerly: AGH University of Science and Technology or ''AGH UST'') is a public university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1913, its inauguration took place in 1919. The university foc ...
. The ERC is the largest robotics and space event in Europe. It is addressed towards scientists, businesspersons, the technology sector and the general public. Along with the
University Rover Challenge The University Rover Challenge (URC) by the Mars Society is a robotics competition for university level students that challenges teams to design and build a rover that would be of use to early explorers on Mars. The competition is held annually a ...
, the ERC is a part of the
Rover Challenge Series The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human exploration and colonization of Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998 and its principles are based on Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human miss ...
.


History

Prior to 2020, all robots and their operators attended the competition on-site. In 2020, the competition switched to a "remote" formula, in which competitors from several continents remotely controlled a robot located on the Mars yard on the campus of the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. When on-site participation resumed in 2021, this remote competing method was retained.


Competition tasks (ON-SITE)

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
is not allowed to be used by the robots (unlike other competitions of this kind) and team members do not see the robots they are navigating. Therefore, they must rely on the robot's other sensors (such as its camera) to complete the competition's tasks.


Competition history

The European Rover Challenge has been organized since 2014. The plans to organize the first edition were announced at the International Space Week.


1st edition (5–7 September 2014)

The first edition of the ERC took place at the Regional Science and Technology Centre in
Chęciny Chęciny is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, southern Poland, with 4,361 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was first mentioned in historical documents from 1275, and obtained its Magdeburg rights, city charter in 1325. At ...
near
Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...
,
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce. The voivodeship takes its ...
. The competition was attended by nine teams from Poland, Lithuania, India, Egypt, and Colombia. Among the guests, were Professor Scott Hubbard, former head of NASA's Ames Research Centre, and
Robert Zubrin Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He is also an advocate for U.S. space superiority, writing that "in the 21st century, victory on land, sea or in the air ...
, founder of the Mars Society. Winners:        * 1st place: SCORPIO,
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, Poland * 2nd place: IMPULS, Kielce, Poland * 3rd place: Lunar and Mars Rover Team,
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, Egypt During the event the Regional Science and Technology Centre, where the competition took place, officially opened.


2nd edition (4–6 September 2015)

The second edition of the ERC also took place at the Regional Science and Technology Centre. The competition was attended by 29 teams from the US, Australia, India, Colombia, the Netherlands, Egypt, Poland, Canada, and other countries. Specials guests of the second edition included astronaut
Harrison Schmitt Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, former NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico. He is the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military a ...
(member of
Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, ...
) and writer
Andy Weir Andrew Weir (; born June 16, 1972) is an American novelist. His 2011 novel '' The Martian'' was adapted into the 2015 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. He received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016 and his 2 ...
remotely.Winners: * 1st place: USST, Canada * 2nd place: Next, Białystok, Poland * 3rd place: McGill Robotics, Canada


3rd edition (10–12 September 2016)

An important event during the ERC 2016 was a Polish part of a civil debate on the future of space exploration organized by the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
. The debate took place in 22 countries at the same time and was attended by 2,000 people who were not involved with the space sector. They discussed such subjects as space exploration, using its resources, and the growing importance of space. Its objective was to verify public opinion and the results were to be considered while developing future strategies of
ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...
.Winners: * 1st place: Raptors, Poland * 2nd place: Impuls, Poland * 3rd place: McGill Robotics, Canada


4th edition (14–15 September 2018)

The fourth edition of the European Rover Challenge was organized in
Starachowice Starachowice is a city in southeastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), with 49,513 inhabitants (31.12.2017). It is the capital of Starachowice County in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. It is situated upon the River Kamienna, a tributary of ...
,
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce. The voivodeship takes its ...
, at the Museum of Nature and Technology. The competition was attended by 35 teams from 20 countries. The fourth edition of the challenge was accompanied by the biggest Science and Technology Show Zone in history. It attracted over 25,000 visitors. Among the guests, there was astronaut
Tim Peake Major (United Kingdom), Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a retired British European Space Agency astronaut, Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), Army Air Corps officer and author. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second a ...
, Artemis Westenberg – President of Explore Mars Europe, Gianfranco Visentin, Head of Automation and Robotics Section at
ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...
, and Maria Antonietta Perino, Head of Advanced Exploration Programmes at
Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...
. It was the first time when Pro Formula had been organized along with the competition. It was addressed to professionals from the space sector and constructors of space robots who wanted to test their constructions in the Mars Yard without participating in the challenge. Winners: * 1st place: Impuls, Poland            * 2nd place: Raptors, Poland * 3rd place: Robotics for Space Exploration, Canada * Jury Award: RoverOva, Czech Republic


5th edition (13–15 September 2019)

The ERC 2019 took place at the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
with over 40 teams qualified for the competition. The fifth edition of the challenge was accompanied by the Mentoring and Business Conference attended by representatives of the space sector from Poland, Europe and the whole world, including
Steve Jurczyk Stephen G. Jurczyk (February 20, 1962 – November 23, 2023) was an American engineer who served as the Acting Administrator of NASA. He previously worked at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Education and career Jurczyk was a ...
, Associate Administrator at
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, Maria Antonietta Perino from
Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...
, Gianfranco Visentin and Pantelis Poulakis from
ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...
and Artemis Westenberg from Explore Mars Europe. Winners: *1st place: Impuls, Poland            *2nd place: AGH Space Systems, Poland *3rd place: RoverOva, Czech Republic


6th edition (11–13 September 2020)

The sixth edition of the ERC was held at the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
. Over 60 teams from all over the world applied to participate in the competition. The 2020 edition was the first one to introduce the remote formula. The competition was conducted using th
Freedom Robotics
platform an
Leo Rover
mobile robots. A total of 33 teams qualified for the finals. Winners: * 1st place: ERIG e.V., Germany * 2nd place: RoverOva, Czech Republic * 3rd place (ex aequo): DJS Antariksh, India, and Robocol, Colombia Additional awards: * Best Design Award: Best Design: AGH Space Systems, Poland * Best Design Award: Best Docs: STAR Dresden e.V., Germany * Best Design Award: Best Science Design: ERIG e.V., Germany * Best Autonomy Navigation: RoverOva, Czech Republic * Best Scientists: METU Rover, Turkey * Best Science Planning: DJS Antariksh, India * Best Planetary Map: Robocol, Colombia * Best Analysis: RoverOva, Czech Republic * Best Dexterity: RoboClyde, UK * Best Presentation: AGH Space Systems, Poland * Mathworks Special Prize: SKA Robotics, Poland The 2020 edition was the first to be broadcast live on th
organizer's website
during the three days of the event. The guests of the ERC2020 industry conference were, among others: * Natalia Lemarquis – United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Space4Women; * Giuliana Rotola –
European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...
; International Space University; * Maria-Gabriella Sarah –
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
; * Gianfranco Visentin –
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
; * Douglas Terrier –
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...
; * Pascale Ehrenfreund – International Astronautical Federation; Space Policy Institute; * Ken Davidian –
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
.


7th edition (10–12 September 2021)

The seventh edition of the ERC was held at the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
. The 2021 edition was the first to be held in both on-site and remote formulas. Winners: * 1st place (on-site): Impuls Team, Poland * 2nd place (on-site): ITU Rover Team, Turkey * 3rd place (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * 1st place (remote): DJS Antariksh, India * 2nd place (remote): ERIG, Germany * 3rd place (remote): RoboClyde, UK Additional awards: * Best Navigation (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * Best Maintenance (on-site): ITU Rover Team, Turkey * Best Science (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * Best Probing (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * Best Presentation (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * Best Navigation (remote): DJS Antariksh, India * Best Maintenance (remote): ERIG, Germany * Best Science (remote): DJS Antariksh, India * Best Presentation (remote): Mars Rover Manipal, India Selected speakers that appeared during the ERC 2021 live broadcast: *
Robert D. Cabana Robert Donald Cabana (born January 23, 1949) is a former Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and retired NASA astronaut, having flown on four Space Shuttle flights. He served as Chief of the Astronau ...
–
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
Associate Administrator; *
Robert Zubrin Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He is also an advocate for U.S. space superiority, writing that "in the 21st century, victory on land, sea or in the air ...
– Mars Society, Pioneer Astronautics; * Annalisa Donati – EURISY; * Chris Welch – International Space University; * Maria Antonietta Perino – Thales Alenia Space; * Grzegorz Wrochna – Polska Agencja Kosmiczna; * Artemis Westenberg – Explore Mars Europe.


8th edition (9-11 September 2022)

The eighth edition of the ERC was held at the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
. Similar to the previous year's edition, the ERC 2022 was held in both on-site and remote formulas. Winners: * 1st place (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * 2nd place (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * 3rd place (on-site): ITU Rover Team, Turkey * 1st place (remote): DJS Antariksh, India * 2nd place (remote): Mars Rover Manipal, India * 3rd place (remote): Project RED, Italy Additional awards: * Best Performance NAVIGATION (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * Best Performance NAVIGATION (remote): IIT Bombay Mars Rover Team, India * Best Performance MAINTENANCE (on-site): Frankfurt Robotics Science Team (FROST), Germany * Best Performance MAINTENANCE (remote): Mars Rover Manipal, India * Best Performance SCIENCE (on-site): ERIG, Germany * Best Performance SCIENCE (remote): Mars Rover Manipal, India * Best Performance PROBING: STAR Dresden, Germany * Best Performance PRESENTATION (on-site): ITU Rover Team, Turkey * Best Performance PRESENTATION (remote): Mars Rover Manipal, India


9th edition (15–17 September 2023)

The 9th Edition of the ERC was held at the
Kielce University of Technology The Kielce University of Technology () is a relatively young institution, although the traditions of higher education in Kielce go back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was here that Stanisław Staszic founded the Mining Academy, one of th ...
. Similar to the two previous year's editions, the ERC 2023 was held in both on-site and remote formulas. Winners: * 1st place (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * 2nd place (on-site): FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * 3rd place (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * 1st place (remote): Makercie, Netherlands * 2nd place (remote): DJS Antariksh, India * 3rd place (remote): Project RED, Italy Additional awards: * Best Performance NAVIGATION (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * Best Performance NAVIGATION (remote): Project RED, Italy * Best Performance MAINTENANCE (on-site): EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * Best Performance MAINTENANCE (remote): CRISS Robotics, India * Best Performance SCIENCE (on-site): Beyond Robotics, Greece * Best Performance COLLECTION & PROBING: FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * Best Performance PRESENTATION (on-site): Imperial Planetary Robotics Lab, UK * Best Performance PRESENTATION (remote): Makercie, Netherlands


10th edition (6–8 September 2024)

The 10th anniversary edition of the ERC was held at the
AGH University of Krakow AGH University of Krakow, (abbreviated as ''AGH University''; formerly: AGH University of Science and Technology or ''AGH UST'') is a public university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1913, its inauguration took place in 1919. The university foc ...
. Unlike the previous years, the ERC was held only on-site with no competition planned for the remote one. * 1st place (on-site): FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * 2nd place (on-site): AGH Space Systems, Poland * 3rd place (on-site): ITU Rover Team, Turkey Additional awards: * Best Performance Maintenance: FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * Best Performance Science: Deep Sampling: FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * Best Performance Science: Surface Sampling: FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * Best Performance Science: Construction: FHNW Rover Team, Switzerland * Best Performance Science: Exploration: BEARS Berlin, Germany * Best Performance Presentation: EPFL Xplore, Switzerland * Best Performance Probing: STAR Dresden, Germany * Best Performance Droning: BEARS Berlin, Germany * Best Performance Navigation: AGH Space Systems, Poland


Bibliography

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References

{{Reflist Mars rovers Robotics competitions Rover Challenge Series