Attending CIRC: Considerations and Benefits

As we move forward to the expression of interest deadline of November 29, here some considerations to help you make your decision to whether or not you should participate in the 2018 Canadian International Rover Challenge. Just a reminder that the expression of interest is completed at this link.

Special Design Considerations

A question that has come up in discussions with teams is “How many changes need to be made to our rover when compared to the other Rover Challenge Series competitions?” There are three considerations you will have to make:

For the safety of their rovers, we are asking teams to consider what changes need to be made for operation in the rain. This will benefit teams no matter where they compete, as dust can cause lots of problems. Considering rain will make becoming dust proof even easier!
There is a task that operates in the evening. There are some complicated solutions or some simple solutions.
The mining challenge. We recognize this is the major difference. As such we will not be expecting teams to collect quantities of sediment that would require a dedicated machine. In order to accommodate the extra hardware for this specific challenge we have increased the budget, and total system mass that teams are allowed.

Every task in our challenge may not be identical to what you have seen in the past. However, outside of the mining task every challenge can be completed with the same hardware you are using for the other competitions.

Benefits of CIRC

We are aiming to make the event as enjoyable as possible, and to offer as many benefits to participants as we can. Some confirmed items we have already arranged:

A central facility that will be available for the entire duration of the event. This will be an air conditioned building out of the heat and wind with access to wifi!. Each team will have their own space to set up, work, and test.
Protocase will be providing $2000 of credit to all teams to have parts manufactured!
We have arranged for teams to have access to discounted hotel rooms at one of the local hotels that is close to the central facility. This will save all participants a considerable amount of money over the course of the weekend.

In addition to these benefits CIRC aims to arrange the following:

Having sponsors set up in the common workspace so you can network with Canadian companies from the space, robotics, and other industustries that are all interested in what you are doing and what you want to do after graduation! This will be a perfect opportunity to directly demonstrate your skill set to potential employers.
Technical demonstrations from companies on different manufacturing methods that teams could use.
Additional agreements with companies that are willing to sponsor participating teams by providing gift-in-kind or reduced rate services as as sponsorship of teams.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the event please reach out to [email protected]