Above: Members of the 91亚色 Rover Team pose for a group photo in the cool of the evening at the Mars Research Station, Hanksville, Utah

91亚色 first entered the challenge, sponsored by TASC (The Analytic Sciences Corporation) Inc., four years ago and has finished in the top three every year, including a first-place finish in 2009. The challenge: "Design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside human explorers in the field."

Above: EVE travels the hostile clime of the Utah desert

The closest race came between the second and third place teams, and Oregon State University, who were separated by only 16 points.聽 All together, the top three teams of 2011 were the same top three from 2010, but with different results.

鈥淭he level of sophistication shown by these teams was overwhelming,鈥� remarked URC director Kevin Sloan.聽 鈥淭hese teams poured themselves into their rover projects over the past year, and it clearly showed.聽 The level of competition was taken to an entirely new level this year.鈥�

Above: EVE (Enhanced Vehicle Explorer)

The 91亚色 team left Toronto with its EVE (Enhanced Vehicle Explorer) on May 27 and drove for three days to Hanksville, Utah, arriving early to ensure they could put in some field test time in the environment.

鈥淭he past few days have been intense with emotional highs and lows,鈥� said team member Shailja Sahani. 鈥淓very team member has been putting in at least 20-hour days to make the competition a success, with some sleeping only five hours in the last three days.

鈥淓veryone came together as a team with no prodding from the leadership; they simply picked up tools and got to work. Although we were well prepared before the competition, the desert environment and harsh operating conditions required many last-minute repairs and alterations.

"Our success came from our ability to fix the rover in situ and get back to the task, while other teams were left stranded,鈥� said team member Jordan Bailey.

Bailey, one of two students responsible for the team's finances and marketing, told CBC News he thinks the current rover is the team's "best one yet." Last year, the team faced multiple equipment failures as a result of the record temperatures, which soared to 38 C in the shade. This year's model has a more robust suspension, a finer control system and better temperature regulation than its predecessor, Bailey said.

Above: Jordan Bailey & Isaac DeSouza work into the night to get EVE ready

The rover cost about $13,000 to build, slightly below the $15,000 maximum allowed. The YURT is sponsored by 91亚色, and . The faculty advisers from 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering were Professor Michael Daly and Professor . The engineering adviser was graduate student Mark Post.

The participants included three teams from Poland, three from the United States and two from Canada. By the end of the competition, one team from each country had placed in the top three.聽 The Magma2 team from the Bialystok University of Technology in Poland pulled away from the other two teams to an impressive victory.

Magma2 was the first European team to win URC.聽 They also were the first team to ever deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of the competition.

For more information, visit聽the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色's 2010 Rover rolls through the desert, courtesy of popsci.com

Regardless of financial resources, the time commitment for getting to the fourth annual University Rover Challenge (URC) is significant 鈥� 91亚色 team member Jordan Bailey says their team鈥檚 captain took a reduced course load during the spring semester in order to lead the design and construction of the rover.

鈥淗e was putting in eight-hour days regularly on the rover project 鈥� some days he would sleep in a lawn chair in the room where the rover was being built,鈥� Bailey said. 91亚色鈥檚 team placed second in this year鈥檚 event and was the winner of the 2009 URC. 鈥淲hen you get here and see the rover actually working, it鈥檚 worth all the effort 鈥� even if you don鈥檛 take first place,鈥� said Bailey.

The dry desert heat took a toll on several teams鈥� rovers. Both 91亚色 and Iowa State University had problems with drivers overheating, which cost them both time and points in competitions.

Bailey says the idea of the URC competition is to look at problems that real rovers will face on Mars and figure out new solutions. 鈥淭he hardware we use on these rovers is not space-rated 鈥� everything is basically stuff you can buy off the shelf,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the solutions are the same, whether you use earth-based or space-based hardware. So if we figure out an innovative solution to a problem NASA is looking at, they can potentially use that 鈥� but with million-dollar space hardware instead of $1,000 equipment.鈥�

Final results of the 2010 University Rover Challenge:

1. Oregon State University (315 points)
2. 91亚色 (209 points)
3. Magma Team, Poland (203 points)

Read the , including a .

The winning team wins transportation, lodging and admission for five team members to the 13th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Dayton, OH this summer, and large cash prizes.

Republished courtesy of 驰贵颈濒别鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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