Australian Rover Challenge 2026

The Australian Rover Challenge is an annual robotics competition that brings together university teams from across Australia and around the world to compete in a full-scale simulated lunar mission.

Teams design and build their own semi-autonomous rovers, which are tested in a purpose-built lunar environment. Competitors demonstrate advanced skills in robotics, engineering, and problem-solving as they complete complex mission tasks including navigation, resource collection, and construction.

Unlike many international rover competitions that focus on Mars exploration, the Australian Rover Challenge is uniquely centred on operating on a simulated lunar surface.

General public is welcome to attend and experience the excitement of the competition at our purpose-built arena at the Roseworthy campus. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to see STEM in action and witness cutting-edge innovation up close.

Session Times

Thursday 26 March | 9:00am - 5:30pm
Friday 27 March | 9:00am - 5:30pm
Saturday 28 March | 9:00am - 4:30pm
Sunday 29 March | 9:00am - 4:30pm

Competition Tasks

Rover teams will be participating in the following tasks:

Post-Landing Task (Thursday and Friday)

The rover has just landed on the surface of the Moon. The team is now required to execute a task list to work towards establishing an in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) outpost. The task requires the competing team to conduct a systems check on the lander and relay any damage to the judges, navigate to and find the location of the Supply Caches while traversing past obstacles and initiate a start-up protocol, download instructions and perform maintenance, connect propellant hoses.

Space Resources Task (Thursday and Friday)

Towards the goal of supporting future astronauts which need breathable oxygen, potable water and construction materials, your rover must begin the evaluation, collection and extraction of critical lunar resources including frozen volatiles like H2O, and metals like Ti and FeO from ilmenite (FeTiO3). To do this, the teams rover has two primary tasks to perform.

In-situ resource prospecting
Excavate and process the target resource to hand to judges.

There will be two types of resource deposits your rover must investigate: dry partially magnetic soil representing ilmenite-enriched regolith, and frozen ice-cemented soil representing deposits of frozen volatiles in Persistently Shadowed Regions (PSRs).

Excavation and Construction (Saturday and Sunday)

Rovers are expected to scale-up operations and prepare the site for a future human landing by conducting some foundation services which include removing hazards by clearing rocks, excavating and transporting regolith to construct a berm, and constructing a feature of the team's choosing using dust-mitigating pavers brought from Earth.

Mapping and Autonomous (Saturday and Sunday)

Rovers need to explore a new area given a rudimentary map, perhaps derived from data collected by orbiters. This map will contain a series of landmarks that scientists are interested in imaging in more detail, and the rover will need to navigate to these without human intervention. Then, either autonomously or under operator control, a larger-scale map of the arena will need to be constructed, and the locations of previously unknown landmarks will need to be determined.

Location: Roseworthy Campus
Cost: Free
Parking: Free parking around campus

Contact the host of Australian Rover Challenge 2026 | Public Attendance