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MAVRIC Team travels to Hanksville, UT for competition
May 31st, 2016 – The MAVRIC team travelled to a desert near Hanksville, UT to compete the 2016 University Rover Challenge. This year the competition involved teams from all over the world with a total of 28 teams.
The MAVRIC team began the competition by competing in the qualifiers. This is a new addition to the competition where teams are grouped in the top 50% (Ares) or the lower 50% (Phobos) based on how well they do in the qualifiers. Those teams then compete against each other in their respective bracket. The team had a strong start to the qualifiers, but a mechanical issue prevented the rover from completing the course and the team ended up 8th in the Phobos bracket.
The team then concentrated on the competition. The first day of the competition started out strong, but the rover experienced additional electrical issues. These issues affected the camera system and eventually also affected the arm system. During the second day problems with the drive motors affected the rover which resulted in lost power to some of the wheels. The team was able to compete in each of the 4 courses, but the issues often resulted in lost points. In the end the team finished 11th out 14 teams in the Phobos bracket.
The team made a valiant effort for this years competition and learned a lot about the rover, the environment which they compete in, and what they can do to improve the rover. They plan to take these lessons learned to make a better rover next year and win the competition next year.