Robotics for Space Exploration - Rover Electrical Team

Robotics for Space Exploration (RSX) is a design team at the University of Toronto. It was co-founded in May of 2013 by passionate roboticists, space enthusiasts, and undergraduate engineering students. The recent explosion in interest in space exploration is what triggered the formation of RSX. Composed of nearly 100 passionate undergraduate students, our team designs, builds and, tests Mars rovers for international competitions and promote STEM and space robotics to our community!

At RSX we compete in local and international competitions. In the past, we have attended the Canadian International Rover Competition in Alberta, the University Rover Challenge in Utah, and the European Rover Challenge in Poland. In addition, we also engage in our local community and put on two Robotics Hackathons called SEEK & SEEK Jr. for youth in the GTA.

For the upcoming year, we have the goal of directly impacting more than 300 students through additional projects like CANSAT (designing and landing a planetary probe), hackathons for youth, increased design projects, and more community initiatives. Our team is hard at work in preparing for the University Rover Challenge in Utah for 2024, for more information on this competition we have publicly released application footage of last year's University Rover Challenge on YouTube.

Every year we aim to cultivate new and exciting projects with the hope of training future leaders in the aerospace and space robotics industry, promoting STEM and space robotics to our community, and promoting the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. The current project we are working on relates to the Electrical system of the rover, where we hope to achieve a communicative light interaction system to indicate different states our Rover will be in. This will allow an important information feedback system for other subsystems of the rover to utilize such as our Software team during missions.

The project began with a simple yet profound question: "How can we make our Mars rover's control system more intuitive and informative?" The answer came in the form of the "Peripheral Board" – a compact printed circuit board equipped with LEDs that would revolutionize the way the rover's control states were communicated. Led by a team of dedicated students with backgrounds in engineering, computer science, and space sciences, the club poured countless hours into the design and development of the Peripheral Board.

The goal was to create a user-friendly interface that could seamlessly integrate with the rover's control system while also utilizing LED lights that needs to be bright enough to ensure visibility in broad daylight. We utilized a 3W RGB light which will be connected via Molex Connectors for clear organization and smooth integration.

The board's design incorporates three distinct LED indicators – red for autonomous mode, blue for manual mode, and green for checkpoint reach indication. These colors were carefully chosen to provide clear and intuitive visual feedback to the rover's operator, ensuring a smooth and efficient control experience.

Autonomous Mode (Red): The red light signals automatic drive, letting the team know that it is navigating the Martian terrain on its own, using its advanced sensors and programming.

Manual Mode (Blue): The blue light indicated that the rover was under manual control, responding to the skilled guidance of the operator as they navigated through challenges and obstacles.

Checkpoint Reach (Green): As the rover reached predefined checkpoints, the green light provided instant confirmation, creating an exciting moment of accomplishment for the team.

For communication, our team decided to use an Arduino Nano V3.0 along with a CAN controller SMD module to transfer serial data to our software team. This year our team wanted the electrical system to have an emphasis on being compact, cost-effective, and optimal so we utilized a large amount of surface mount components in our design.

If PCBWay has any sponsorship opportunities for University Design Teams, we would be honored to be a part of a partnership with PCBWay. The sponsorship of PCBWay would help our projects during the 2023-2024 academic year. This includes technology development and testing of interplanetary rovers, our attendance at Design Competitions, organizational efforts for our outreach initiatives, and more! We pursue these projects with the hope of training future leaders in the aerospace and space robotics industry, promoting STEM and space robotics to our community, and promoting the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, and PCBWay as a leader in innovation. The support of the PCBWay will ensure that these goals are met.

The UofT Robotics for Space Exploration club welcomes fellow enthusiasts, students, and curious minds to join their mission. The club's commitment to innovation, collaboration, and the thrill of exploring the unknown continues to inspire the next generation of space explorers at the University of Toronto.