Oregon State University Robotics Club

This term, the rover team has onboarded and trained new members, started 4 capstone projects, began a redesign of our science mechanisms, and held our first two design reviews of the year. For training, we planned and held a mini-competition to help new members get a better grasp of our season end-goal. Our capstone projects include a three-finger gripper, a new autonomous navigation system, a real-life accurate rover simulation, and a three-axis gimbal for active image stabilization. Our science and science mechanism teams are developing a core sample collection system and a topsoil collection-to-onboard chemical analysis system.



We are excited to continue developing or rover to prepare for our 2026 competitions: the University Rover Challenge (27-30 May in Utah) and the Canadian International Rover Challenge (7-10 August in Alberta).

On the 1st of November, our Mars Rover team held their first design review of the term. Each project team presented and answered questions about their project goal, plan, current progress, and timeline. Due to its proximity to Halloween, we invited team members to dress up in impromptu costumes and present in-character. The Mars Rover leadership dedicated time to reformatting our design review process to have a more productive and enjoyable experience compared to the previous year. The implemented changes encouraged members to ask more questions, leading to a longer but more broadly engaging discussion.

Some of the more notable projects presented-on include:
- New gimbal design with active image stabilization
- Strain data collection for next year’s chassis redesign
- Redesigning the wrist-roll joint on our arm to include a larger slipring
- Physically accurate simulation (Capstone Project)
- Redesigning soil-core and topsoil collection mechanisms
- Designing a soil-sample chemical analysis system
- Creating a standardized connector set for the Rover
- Autonomous navigation system (Capstone Project)
- Physical camera layer (6 static cameras for surround view of rover)
- New three finger gripper design (Capstone Project)
- Design of switch and button board for arm dexterity testing (New Member Onboarding Project)

The team is excited to proceed from the planning and prototyping stage to a phase of further design, testing, and integration (for competition) next term!

Join us for Leadership this Wednesday, October 1st at 6pm in Kearney 212! This is the first in a three part installment our club will be hosting in partnership with Kim Harr and her company . This first topic will be on Effective Communication. We hope to see you all there!

Our Drone Racing Subteam, Dam Drones, took Second Place again this year at the Collegiate Drone Racing Championships in Raleigh-Durham, NC! 6 of our 8 competing pilots made it into the pro-top 16 bracket, and one more made it into the pro-next 16 bracket. More pilots than any other competing school!