The Competition

The purpose of the competition is to design and build a robot to support life in space on the surface of the moon. The Moon's surface contains a buried material called icy regolith. This material contains water that can be harvested and used to support life on the moon. During the competition, our robot must traverse an arena that simulates the lunar surface, dig for gravel, and deposit it in a collection bin. In recent years the competitions focus has shifted to berm construction with the goal of building rocket launch and landing sites on the moon.

The Team

Alabama Astrobotics is divided into three main technical sub-teams along with administrative positions. The technical sub-teams are Mechanical, Electrical, and Software. The Mechanical team designs and builds the robot, Electrical handles all the wiring of the robot, and Software programs the robot to traverse the arena autonomously. Most of the members on our team are in the College of Engineering, but anyone can join the team. On the administration side we have positions in Marketing, Social Media, Budget, and Procurement. We also offer opportunities for people interested in technical writing and project management through our systems engineering team.

National Champions

The Astrobotics Team is highly decorated in awards from the annual competition. We have won first place nine times in the thirteen previous years of the competition, the last eight times in a row.

Championship Years:

2024, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012

Outreach

In addition to building our robot, the team leads many outreach events both on the University's campus and in the surrounding area. We strive to share our love for space and robotics with younger students and encourage them to get involved in STEM.