UBC Thunderbird Robotics

The goal of the TREAD project is to build a autonomous robotic excavator capable of competing in the 2009 NASA Regolith Excavation Challenge.

The NASA Regolith Excavation Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge, a set of competitions sponsored by NASA with the hopes of accelerating the development of future technologies that will be necessary for space exploration.

Our entry must be able to mine 150kg of regolith, a very fine type of dirt found on the moon, in under 30 minutes. To simulate Earth-to-moon communications, there are two further requirements. First, the robot must be controlled remotely - the driver must sit in a separate room and cannot see the vehicle directly. Second, all communications between the driver and robot will be subject to a two-second delay each way.

The members of TREAD Robotics spanning many disciplines of engineering and computer science have devoted over 1000 hours of unpaid labour to making our team a success. During this time, we have increased the depth of knowledge of team members by creating opportunities to apply the theory learned in our courses to a project with tangible goals.

TREAD is a part of UBC Thunderbird Robotics and is proudly supported by the UBC Faculty of Applied Science, Alma Mater Society, Engineering Physics Project Lab, and Centre for Environmental Research in Minerals, Metals and Materials. TREAD also would like to thank our sponsors for the 2009 competition: