Sydney Lunabotics is the first team to represent Australia and the University of Sydney in the NASA Lunabotics Competition. We are a motivated team of undergraduate aerospace, mechatronic, and mechanical engineers in our second to fourth years of study. Other fields studied by our team include astrophysics, computer science and mathematics. Sydney Lunabotics accurately represents the cultural dive
rsity of Sydney, with members coming from many different backgrounds brought together by a common enthusiasm for engineering. As a team of passionate engineers, we strive to be infectious with our love for building things and solving problems. Through high school visits, museum exhibits, and other activities, we are reaching out to the community with the hope of inspiring others. The team is led by Daniel Linton, a third year Aeronautical (Space) Engineering student. With support from Professor Salah Sukkarieh and Dr. Ali Göktoǧan from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney and our sponsors we are confident that our entry will be competitive. We are attempting to build a fully autonomous system as autonomy is increasingly relevant in today’s engineering environment. We have also set the bar for the amount of regolith collected at an ambitious 200 kg; this choice was driven by the incredible achievements of competitors during the previous years of the challenge. It is important to us that students outside of the Sydney Lunabotics team benefit from our work as we place a high value on the image of engineering in the community and recognise the necessity of attracting new students to the STEM fields. Because of this, community outreach is an essential part of our plan; the avenues that we are using for this purpose are television, radio, museum, and high school visits. Our funding is provided by sponsors who are interested in promoting Australian education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Following the 2013 competition the Lunabot, team organisation and experience gained will be used as the starting point for 2014, when we intend to produce our second entry for the Lunabotics competition.
