[R]overTech | European Rover Challenge | 2026

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:10]Hi, I'm Alberto Bellandi.

[00:00:11]>> And I'm Michele Barone.

[00:00:12]>> Building a planet rover is a complex challenge, and as project manager, our mission is to coordinate people and resources to turn ideas into a fully functional machine. Our priority is to ensure that our rover, Kairos, is delivered on time and meets the highest quality standards. But most importantly, we make sure that no one works in a silo.

[00:00:31]>> Behind Kairos, there is a perfectly organized team of approximately 60 passionate students from Politecnico di Milano.

[00:00:37]>> Together, we lead this group organized into five core departments. Let's see what they do.

[00:00:42]>> The structures department is responsible for designing and assembling the rover's platform and payload. Our work starts in CAD software, where we model every component, translating concepts and ideas into detailed geometries for our prototypes. Where models and simulations are not enough, we heavily rely on 3D printing to accelerate the testing and validation process.

[00:01:07]>> The electronics department acts as the nervous system, connecting the rover's mind to its body.

[00:01:13]We design electrical power system and custom PCBs, integrating complex sensor and optical motors to conquer steep terrains. Through meticulous um power and cable management, our hardware provides the lifeblood that the turns complex code into real-world action.

[00:01:36]>> The software department brings the rover to life, handling the architecture needed for its autonomy, but planning and mission control of both rover and drone. We're also responsible for the computer vision for object recognition and for the precise control of the robotic arm in order to perform its task.

[00:01:54]>> The system engineering department provides an overview of the entire project. We translated the competition rules into clear and technical requirements for every team. We look for every possible flow in the production process, as well as we oversee a complete test campaign to validate a rover before the competition.

[00:02:14]>> Finally, in the science department, we turn exploration into science.

[00:02:18]We are responsible for the mission planning of our exploration, and we develop part of the payload, such as the sample storage system and the liquid containment.

[00:02:26]During the mission, we guide operation, analyze data in real time, ensuring that every action produces a valuable scientific result.

[00:02:33]>> In this team, we don't wait for the perfect solution. We build them. We evolve, we improve, we integrate.

[00:02:38]And in the end, we achieve, because Kairos is not assembled, it's engineered as one being.

[00:02:45]>> We take part in this competition to test engineering beyond theory. In fact, rover competition bring together constraints, complex tasks, and real-time decision-making. And they not only require a solid design, but also building integrated systems that are then reliable and perform on the field.

[00:03:05]>> We also hope that our work will inspire future generations to pursue the path of research and discovery.

[00:03:10]>> A little bit of healthy competition is exactly what we need to ignite this passion. We believe that expanding our horizons is essential to true innovation, and we won't hold back as we take meaningful steps towards more sustainable, knowledge-driven future.

[00:03:23]>> And we believe, finally, that confronting other teams, um, comparing approaches and different solutions to the same challenge is key to continuously improving our work, both as engineers and as a team ourselves.

[00:03:40]>> Kairos builds on the experience gained from last year's platform, maintaining its T-slot profiles, allowing us to have a highly configurable, yet, uh, lightweight backbone. For this iteration, we've retained the uh rocker-bogie suspension system, a deliberate choice for its outstanding performances in uh obstacle traversing and weight distribution along the six wheels.

[00:04:07]These qualities, combined with a mechanically straightforward architecture uh that remains easy to assemble and maintain, make it the ideal foundation for our platform. This year, we have improved uh several key components, including uh shifting the differential mechanism from the lower to the upper section of the frame, increasing ground clearance, and overall mobility.

[00:04:31]Dual-material 3D-printed wheels uh combine an ASA rim with a flexible TPU tire, uh delivering both shock absorption and traction uh without relying on additional components.

[00:04:44]We power the rover using a custom lithium-ion battery pack uh designed in-house, uh ensuring a lightweight, compact volume, and a high energy density.

[00:04:55]This solution satisfy both the peak power requirement and also the sustained endurance that we need on the field.

[00:05:05]>> For motor control, we use EtherCAT. It gives us precise synchronized control of all actuators with low jitter and tight cycle times, essential for coordinated motion and close-loop control. It also reduce latency and wiring complexity, freeing up space and allowing for easy integration of additional sensor and subsystem. Together with the ROS 2 control system, it makes it ideal for our requirements. Powerful enough for a demanding task, yet clean and maintainable for a fast-paced development environment, giving us both the performance and reliability the rover needs.

[00:05:37]>> From the ground station, we are able to monitor in real time the state of the rover and its most important parameters, allowing us to detect malfunctioning components, unexpected behavior, and in the worst case, assuming remote control of the rover. This setup, together with the emergency stop button, offers a secure and reliable system that guarantees the safety of both the rover and the eventual people present on the field.

[00:05:59]In order to avoid any dangerous situation, a security red button was integrated on board, which can overcome any protocol and operation and block the system. To achieve that, the switches close, the batteries open up, and completely cut the feeding power from the rover.

[00:06:12]>> Unlike previous year, this year we decide to develop our own UAV rather than rely on external partners, allowing us to maintain a full control of its design feature and development timeline.

[00:06:26]Our UAV is a fully autonomous quadcopter engineered to operate in confined environments. The drone is equipped with a depth camera and an IMU, which allow it to estimate its position and orientation in real time.

[00:06:40]By commanding these sensors, the UAV perform visual-inertial odometry and continuously tracks its motion while flying. At the same time, it builds a map of the environment, detecting obstacles such as walls and mission elements inside the arena.

[00:06:56]This information is used to navigate safely and to make decision during the mission.

[00:07:02]All computation is performed on board.

[00:07:04]The UAV can take off, stabilize, explore the environment, and land without human intervention, processing all sensor data and planning its motion in real time.

[00:07:14]Path plan planning is dynamic and continuously updated. The drone computes safe and smooth trajectories, adapting to the environment, and then avoiding obstacles while maintaining stable and precise flight within a limited space.

[00:07:30]Safety is a key aspect of our system.

[00:07:33]The drone includes multiple fail-safe mechanisms such as automatic landing in case of low battery or instability.

[00:07:41]Moreover, if the communication with the ground station is lost, the drone automatically activates fail-safe procedures, such as safe landing or recovery maneuvers, ensuring safe operation without external input.

[00:07:55]>> This year, Kyber introduces a completely redesigned 5 degrees of freedom robotic arm built around independent stepper motors at every joint for accurate and responsive motion control. The kinematics and mechanical layout have been carefully studied and optimized to fully exploit the possibilities of 3D printing with lightweight integrated parts that reduce the moving mass and simplify assembling.

[00:08:24]Integrated electromagnetics brakes, which engage automatically whenever the system is powered down or in an emergency stop condition, ensure that the arm holds its position without relying on active motor torque. The flexible TPU gripper is designed to safely and effectively grasp a wide variety of objects, accommodating different shapes and materials while minimizing the risk of damage.

[00:08:53]>> Our rover features a drill subsystem capable of reaching 350 mm, allowing us to drill different layers of soil.

[00:09:03]It implies an external tube, which allows us to move the material up to a funnel and then into the onboard sample storage.

[00:09:12]And it raised and lowered by lead screw linear actuators. This year, a lot of components that were made of aluminum are replaced by 3D printed ones to have a lighter design and also to have an easier production and integration into the system.

[00:09:30]>> For our sample storage, we engineered two storage systems, one that isolates the liquid sample and ones for the geological materials like regolith and rocks.

[00:09:41]Sadly, these parts are still not ready and are going to be finished in a couple of weeks. So, in the video, we're just showing the wetting ability on a prototype.