Lassonde School of Engineering's Project ARMES Team competes at 2014 International University Rover Challenge in the Utah desert
A team of Lassonde School of Engineering students representing York University finished an impressive sixth out of 23 teams competing at the 2014 International University Rover Challenge in the Utah desert.
Teams from universities from six countries in four continents were challenged to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside human explorers in the field.
The Project ARMES Team, funded and supported by the Lassonde School, received the highest score of any Canadian team, placing ahead of University of Toronto, Queen’s University and University of Saskatchewan.
Members of the Project ARMES Team works on their rover
The team is led by space engineering student Ian Tomaszewski and advised by Lassonde School of Engineering Professor John Moores. Project ARMES is a team within the York University Robotics Society (YURS), which is a student-run group providing a platform for robotic teams to form and compete in any competition. The team was awarded the best presentation of all the teams competing at the event, hosted by the Mars Society at their Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah.
The Project ARMES Team is now preparing for stage two of their research project that will involve a two-week deployment at the Desert Research Station in 2015.
The full list of students involved in Project ARMES – including their respective roles on the project – is as follows:
- Isaac DeSouza (systems engineer)
- Dennis Liu (software systems engineer)
- Mrunal Amin (mechanical systems engineer)
- Anirudh Agarwal (mechanical systems engineer)
- Jamie Isen (electrical systems engineer)
- Tahmoor Naeem (software systems engineer)
- Roman Dombrovski (science researcher)
- Stanley Lio (rover team alumnus and adviser)
- Jason Ma (team assistant)
Pictures of the team and the competition are available on the Lassonde School of Engineering Facebook page.
Members of the Project ARMES Team in the Utah desert