Class 11 students have recently completed a two week Rover Design Main Lesson. Working in teams, students designed and built remote controlled rovers that needed to navigate rough terrain, cross water, race against each other, and tow weighted trailers. The project culminated in a competition morning where students put their rovers through all four challenges.

Throughout the project, students worked through the complete design process from initial research and sketching through to prototyping and final construction. Teams investigated buoyancy methods, tested different drive systems, and made improvements based on their testing results. The final rovers showed a good range of solutions, with teams developing different approaches to the amphibious requirements and creating distinctive visual designs. During the competition, we assessed the rovers on technical performance, design quality, build standards and appearance. Students demonstrated good driving skills as they navigated the rough terrain course, completed the speed trials and attempted the difficult towing challenge.