Enter our simulated NASA robotics lab, where your team’s mission is to explore the uncharted surfaces of the Red Planet.
You have been hired to build an exploratory robot outfitted with a remote camera. What your robot sees, you see, and nothing more. Back at the command center, your team will strategize and implement a plan to conquer each challenge that arises. Be the first to discover resources like water and fuel. Outmaneuver other robots in the race to establish proof of life by collecting quantifiable evidence. Each day, your robot will return to Earth so that you can rebuild and reprogram for the next big challenge. Map Mars, surpass the competition, and claim a victory for interplanetary science.
Creative Problem-Solving
With each new challenge, discuss the best way to adapt your robot for a successful mission. Apply the engineering design process to test and modify your designs and identify creative solutions. Evaluate and respond to critical data that will test the communication skills of your team under time pressure.
Visit to Mars – Soil Collection
Create a robot that can collect soil samples from Mars, complete with a grabber arm and camera so your team can navigate the alien landscape from Earth.
Science of Space Exploration
Compare our simulated space exploration to how NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab is thinking about their real Mars 2020 project. Discover how the materials and concepts you are using in class can connect to the ways that aerospace engineers problem-solve and prepare for their missions.
Vex Programming Language
Code in the Vex programming system, a straightforward visual environment built to easily transfer your ideas into commands your robot can follow.
Scrum-Style Building
Implement scrum-style building, a form of teamwork used by professional engineers to keep an entire group productively engaged in reaching critical objectives.
Courses are just one part of your day at EXPLO. Workshops, activities, trips into town with your friends… We pack a ton into a single day — imagine what you can do in three weeks.