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Level 2 Requirements and Guidelines

These rules are intended to clarify and further articulate the rules spelled out in the Level 1 Requirements and Guidelines.  In the case of conflict between Level 1 and Level 2, the latter will take precedence.  Any issues not covered by these published rule sets will be addressed on a case by case basis by the URC Chair.

Rover Guidelines and Competition Overview

• The rover shall be a stand-alone, off-the-grid, mobile platform.  No tethers will be allowed during its operation for connection to external sources.
  
  
• The rover shall be judged in the two competition events outlined below.  The two tasks will be independent events.  The rover is not required to be in the same configuration for both.  Teams will have at least three hours to reconfigure, adjust and repair their rovers in between events.
  • Engineering Task:  Team rovers shall be required to deploy a simulated radio repeater at a remote site.  The simulated repeater will weigh between 1 and 1.5 kg and be a box of no more than 1 liter in volume (with dimensions no greater than 12cm x 12cm x 7cm tall).  The repeater will have three 1/4-20 threaded sockets (standard camera/tripod mount size) mounted on three orthogonal sides.  One of these sides will be designated as “down.”
    Rovers shall start in the vicinity of the target deployment range, and teams shall decide the ideal location to deploy the repeater.  Teams will be judged on the suitability of the chosen location as well as the quality of the deployment.
    Teams may, at their discretion, deploy anchors and/or other equipment to secure the repeater to the site.  The provided sockets may be used (these will be considered secure anchor points), however the package may not otherwise be damaged.  The equipment left behind cannot exceed 2kg, and must be contained within the 50kg deployment mass of the rover (see below for details on the mass requirement).  Special attention should be given to the application of such equipment at a radio repeater site (ferrous-wire cages are discouraged).  Security of the repeater will be considered in the quality of deployment score.
    
    
  • Scientific Task: Teams shall be required to tele-investigate a particular region to learn as much as possible about its geology and paleontology. Rovers may use cameras or other passive instruments to investigate the area, and may dig using mechanical methods. No explosives may be used. Samples must be investigated by the rover on-site, and may not be brought back to the crew for investigation.
    Team shall be required to make observations relevant to the setting in the desert of the American west while demonstrating an understanding of how these observations would translate to a Martian setting.
    
    
• For each of the individual events, the rover will have to travel a straight line distance of no greater than one half mile, starting from a distance of no further than 100 yards from the team’s command and control site.
  
  
• The time allowed to complete each task will vary depending on the complexity of the actual test site chosen.  The time allowed shall be at least one hour, and no greater than three hours.
  
  
• The maximum allowable mass of the rover when deployed for any competition event is 50 kg. This mass does not include any other hardware used to prepare or maintain the rover, any spare power sources not being used, or any additional rover configuration components not on-board for the particular competition event.
  The combined mass of spare power sources and additional rover configuration components shall not exceed 20 kg.
  There will be no weight limit imposed on command and control team equipment, base radio or maintenance tools.
  
  
• The rover shall not be required to be autonomous.  However it shall be operated remotely by a team which will not be able to view the rover on the site or the site itself directly.  The rover may be commanded by the team using a radio link, with information needed for guiding the rover acquired by the rover's own on-board systems and transmitted to the team by radio.  There shall be no time delay in communications, as the URC is based on the assumption that the rovers in question are telerobots, being operated by astronauts on or orbiting Mars. 
  
  
• The test site shall be a location in the desert of the American west.  As such, the site will have a full spectrum of sloped terrain from flat to vertical.  The objective sites shall be reachable by paths of no greater than a 15% slope.  The rover shall also be capable of withstanding such an environment in the late spring, including airborne dust and temperatures that can easily reach 100°F

Team Management

• Teams shall be required to track all finances as related to this project, and submit a final expense record no later than the first day of URC event.  The maximum allowable cash budget to be spent on the project is $10,000 US, which shall include money spent on parts and components, but not tools, volunteer labor time, or travel expenses.  Teams may acquire in-kind donations of equipment.  Such donations do not count against the cash budget.  Teams may be required to submit receipts as proof of budget upon request (donations must be documented by the donor).
  International teams have an allowable budget equivalent to $10,000 US based on the most advantageous documented currency conversion rate between August 1, 2006 and June 1, 2007.
  Corporate sponsorship is encouraged.
  
  
• There shall be one division of competition open to both graduate and undergraduate students.

Logistics

• The previously indicated November 15, 2006 Indication of Interest deadline has been waived.  It is strongly encouraged that teams planning on participating in the URC contact the URC Chair by early January.   The January 26, 2007 announcement of the field competition dates and location will be based on feedback provided to the URC Chair by teams concerning their late spring semester schedules.