Overview

The International Rover Challenge (IRC) is an annual competition where university teams design, build and operate robotic rovers to complete mission tasks. The 2026 finals will bring qualified teams together for a week of mission runs, technical inspections, and demonstrations. Our team has earned a place among the finalists, and we’re moving into the event prepared, focused, and ready to deliver our best work.

Mission & competition format

IRC missions test teams across autonomy, mobility, manipulation and science tasks. Teams are evaluated on mission performance, system reliability, and engineering design.

Navigation & Autonomy

Localization, path planning and obstacle negotiation in unstructured terrain.

Science & Sampling

Detection, collection and handling of simulated samples using sensors/manipulators.

Delivery Mission

Autonomous payload delivery tasks requiring accuracy and repeatability.

Rover image

Rover from event gallery

On-site schedule

This schedule is a typical example used in past IRC events; consult the official schedule for exact times.

  1. Day 0 — Arrival, team registration, pit setup.
  2. Day 1–2 — Technical inspections, practice runs and qualifiers.
  3. Day 3–5 — Mission runs (navigation, sampling, delivery).
  4. Final day — Demonstrations, awards and closing ceremony.