The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) made their mark at the recent Australian Rover Challenge at Adelaide University.
A triservice team of nine ADFA Trainee Officers and five civilian students from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, worked together as part of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) team, improving on last year's efforts to place fourth overall this year.
The Australian Rover Challenge is an international semi-autonomous robotics competition, where teams design and build a rover under 60kg to be operated remotely in simulated lunar operations.
Teams competed over four days in various tasks focusing on the use of a custom-built robotic arm, excavation and construction, scientific data collection and autonomous navigation.
The competition featured 30 teams from Australia, Poland, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Germany and Kazakhstan.
Team president Officer Cadet Elsie Drummond said they were very proud of their efforts in this year's competition.
"RAS won the community engagement award for the year, thanks to the technical support we provided to others," Officer Cadet Drummond said.
"I am really proud of our engagement with other universities and spectators."
'This challenge was not only technically difficult, but it also served to inspire the next generation of our space workforce.'
The ADFA RAS team assisted the Kazakhstani NU Aspen team, University of Technology Sydney, Swinburne University and University of Western Australia with parts manufacturing and radio communications support.
Looking ahead to 2027, the RAS team will focus on improving autonomous system resilience and water extraction in the hopes of moving up the leader board.
Acting Commandant ADFA Colonel Adam Bryden said this year's Australian Rover Challenge provided a chance to display some of the unique opportunities available while studying at ADFA.
"Participation in such a technical competition such as this provides our Trainee Officers with an excellent opportunity to develop their skills in a practical environment," Colonel Bryden said.
"This challenge was not only technically difficult, but it also served to inspire the next generation of our space workforce.
"While I am incredibly proud of the hard work our robotics team have put in to achieving their goal, I'm equally as proud of the leadership and camaraderie they shared with their competitors throughout the event."
