Robotics Group
The UW Robotics Team has been expanding exponentially ever since its inception in 2003. With a focus on the constantly evolving field of autonomous vehicles, the UW Robotics Team does not restrict itself to a fixed competition allowing us to take advantage of the best opportunities as they arise. It is decided each year which competitions will be entered, with the team frequently taking on more than one simultaneous project.
Over the years, the competitions entered have become more and more complex and challenging. We have sent remote operated Mars exploration vehicles to the Utah desert and fully autonomous outdoor navigation vehicles to the heart of the auto industry in Michigan.
Space Robotics Group
The Space Robotics Team is a sub group of UW Robotics. It consists of a student-driven team of both undergraduate and graduate students who work together to design and build a land-based robotic vehicle.
The robot is fully autonomous and is able to intelligently navigate, locate, identify, and recover samples all without user input. In 2011, the team has had tremendous success placing 4th in the JAUS Challenge and 1st in the International Autonomous Robot Racing Challenge for Drag Race and Circuit Race. This year, the team will be participating in the prestigious NASA Sample Return Robot Challenge, which has a grand prize of 1.5 million dollars.