An ambitious group of engineering students from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has made history, as the first team from Turkey to enter and take on the University Rover Challenge to design and build a robotic research and discovery rover vehicle that could one day operate on the suface of Mars. The ITU Rover Team is determined to take on the brightest and the best from around the world at the field competition held in the USA at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah.

To fulfil the dream of Turkey being one of the top countries competing in this demanding challenge, the ITU Rover Team has top academic students from various engineering disciplines and fields of technical knowledge and expertise. The driverless rover vehicle must be a robotic design, able to perform difficult tasks on the planet surface remotely. Tasks that the rover must be able to successfuly perform include: carrying out biological and chemical analysis tests; reporting visual data; gathering physical rock and soil samples.

Being able to design very lightweight, durable structural components with outsanding mechanical properties, the ITU team is looking to use carbon fibre composites materials where possible in its rover design, such as for the robotic arm, the main body and wheel trims.

As part of an ongoing annual commitment to support talented student engineers and innovative university projects, METYX Composites, is providing the ITU Rover Team with a complete package of vacuum consumables and woven carbon fabrics.

Everyone at METYX Composites wishes the ITU Rover Team success!