Project CRATER
Vision
Rovers are very useful for reducing the risks and costs of future crewed missions to Mars. By leveraging the advantages of fully autonomous driving and sampling the Martian environment, such rovers will enable the space sector to identify and analyze potential landing sites and outposts, paving the way for humanity to reach the Red Planet.
Mission
The main goal of this project is to build a rover for the European Rover Challenge (ERC) and win the competition. One of the most important tasks is the autonomous navigation of the rover on the test field without any remote assistance. Furthermore, soil samples are required to categorize the Martian soil, investigate potential water resources, and identify other critical elements. Communication between the operator and the rover is essential for monitoring, troubleshooting, and remotely controlling the system in case of problems with the fully autonomous algorithm. Transporting the rover to the ERC field campaign presents a challenge, as it must be treated like a payload for an analog Mars mission. Similar to a potential landing on Mars, the constraints regarding volume and weight must be taken into account.
Our Progress
Project CRATER was launched in 2023 to develop an autonomous Martian rover and participate in the European Rover Challenge. Using 3D-printed prototypes based on ESA’s ExoMY as a stepping stone, we have developed our rover platform, MAREE, which can be equipped with various payloads to complete diverse missions.
We successfully tested the first iteration of our drive system and sampling payload at a test site near the Robotics and Mechatronics Centre of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in October 2024.
In 2025, the team competed at the Rover Träff in Switzerland and the European Rover Challenge in Poland, where we placed 22nd out of over 100 registered teams. The valuable lessons learned during the design iteration will help us improve our rover for next year’s competition, where we will participate again with an upgraded rover.
European Rover Challenge (ERC)
The European Rover Challenge is an international space & robotics event combining competition of Martian rovers with scientific and technological shows.