Rensselear Rock Raiders 2017-2018 Team Photo

Our Team:

The RPI Rock Raiders were originally formed to compete in the 2014 NASA Sample Return Challenge. Due to the end of that competition in 2016, the Rock Raiders have decided to refocus their efforts on the Mars Society's University Rover Challenge. For the last year, the team has been developing a new rover platform specifically designed for this competition. Our leadership has also been looking into other competitions for which our new platform may be adapted including the NASA Robotic Mining Competition.

Rock Raiders is an interdisciplinary team that brings together talented student engineers and scientists. The team is divided into four technical subteams: Science, Software, Electrical and Mechanical. Each member also assigned a soft-skill task to help manage the team, such as publicity or budgeting.

The team is extremely collaborative in nature. From weekly general body meetings and subteam meetings to daily open-shop sessions, every student has the opportunity to communicate with the team and present their progress. These meetings also ensure everyone is updated on what the team has accomplished, and what future steps are necessary to build the Mars rover. Additionally, we have an integrated online space utilizing Google Hangouts, Google Drive, Github, TeamGantt and Slack to share and track critical information. These collaborative efforts ensure the team is heading in the right direction in completing the robot.

Leadership:

Team Captain

Judy Zhang
Electrical Engineering | Class of 2018

Vice President

Sam Ansaldo
Mechanical Engineering | Class of 2020

Project Manager

Aquiel Godeau
Electrical Engineering | Class of 2018

Treasurer/Science Team Lead

Nathan Mascari
Computer Science/Computer Engineering | Class of 2020

Mechanical Team Lead

Adhikara Budhyhartono
Mechanical Engineering | Class of 2019

Software Team Lead

Sinclair Gurny
Computer Science/Cognitive Science | Class of 2019

Electrical Team Lead

Victor Ng
Computer and Systems Engineering | Class of 2019

Webmaster/Social Media

Patrick Love
Computer and Systems Engineering | Class of 2020