ARLISS Autonomous Navigating Robots 2019 – Trekking Across the Desert

The UOregon Rover

Once again our ARLISS (A Rocket Launch for international Student Satellites) team from the University of Oregon competed in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.  This annual event is inspirational for our students.  They are meeting like minded colleagues from around the globe and working and interacting with engineers and programmer from the likes of Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley tech firms.

The goal is fairly simple

1. Build an autonomous navigating robot
2. Build one that can fit in to 20 cm wide by 25 cm tall coffee can
3. Build one that can survive lift-off from a high powered K-motor rocket, explosive ejection from the rocket, and then providing it survives, landing, and escaping from its parachute
4. Have it do something useful along the way as it navigates kilometers across the desert.
5. Talk about your results – successes and failures.

Liftoff an ARLISS rocket similar to ours

The UO Robocketry Team carrying their autonomous navigating rover in the rocket as they head to the launchpad

The full ARLISS team with our payload on the rocket in the background