The annual challenge asks students to design and build robots for lunar navigation in support of NASA’s Artemis campaign. Utah’s team excavated simulated regolith—material standing in for the Moon’s loose surface material—and built a berm. The competition took place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. [S1]
At the University of Illinois Chicago, which won the Robotic Construction Award, team captain Elijah Wilkinson described a division of work that included designing and programming the robot, wiring it and writing papers. The award assessed robots’ ability to build berms with excavated simulant. [S1]
Purdue University students received the Caterpillar Autonomy Award, which recognizes teams that complete competition activities autonomously. NASA competition commentator Kurt Leucht said students gain experience designing, building and testing robots while the agency can study different designs operating in simulated lunar soil. [S1]
Source documents
- Future Engineers Shine at NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Robotics Competitionhttps://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/kennedy/future-engineers-shine-at-nasas-2025-lunabotics-robotics-competition/