UNC Charlotte Astrobotics Competition 16-17

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who helped us reach our initial goal of $2,000. We are now working to reach our stretch goal of $2,500 to help us get to the Kennedy Space Center.

UNC Charlotte's Astrobotics team is a group of 8 multi-disciplinary engineering students who will be competing in this year’s NASA Robotic Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center. 

Recently, NASA discovered large amounts of water in the form of ice and hydrated mineral known as basaltic regolith on Mars.  NASA’s main goal is to capture samples of the basaltic regolith and ice to insure Mars is a suitable environment for human existence. Due to the ambiguity, NASA has launched the Robotic Mining Competition to challenge college students on their creativity and innovative ideas. This year’s competition objective is to design and build a completely autonomous robot that can traverse the simulated Martian chaotic terrain, excavate, store and deposit collected basaltic regolith simulant (Black Point-1/BP-1) and ice simulant (gravel) into a collector bin successfully.  

We are ecstatic to demonstrate our eminent engineering skills but also to educate K-12 students on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM)  fields. Knowing that only 20% students entering college feel prepared in STEM studies, we decided to make a difference in our community. 

We hope to reach our goal of $2,500 to help cover our team purchase robot parts, cover travel expenses, and educate the next generation of robotic engineers. Please invest in our efforts and help us spread the word to meet our goal! UNC Charlotte received the prestigious opportunity to compete in this competition against highly reputed universities, such as New York University, Purdue University, along with over 50 other universities.