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This IIT Madras team is building rovers & drones for MARS EXPLORATION | BP2B: Student Edition! Ep.05

Space exploration isn’t just happening at NASA or ISRO labs — it’s being built by students too. In this episode of Best Place to Build – Student Edition, we go inside Team Anveshak, the space robotics team of IIT Madras, to understand how students design, build, and test Mars-style rovers, autonomous systems, drones, and astrobiology modules from scratch. The team walks us through: • How a semi-autonomous Mars rover is built and tested • Why rovers and drones work together in real space missions • How students simulate Martian terrain and mission constraints on Earth • The engineering behind 3D-printed rover wheels and gearboxes • Building an in-house spectrometer to detect signs of extraterrestrial life • The role of AI, sensors, and onboard computing in space autonomy • Competing in national and international space robotics challenges • Leadership, teamwork, and staying motivated in high-pressure competition teams From mechanical design and electronics to software, biology, and chemistry, this episode shows how interdisciplinary engineering comes together to push the future of space technology forward. If you’re a student interested in space tech, robotics, AI, or engineering teams, this is a must-watch. Key Highlights 00:48 Anveshak: Team Lead Introduction and what Anveshak does 01:58 Rover and Drone Partnership: How does it help? 02:40 Mars: Why Mars and how is the Mars environment replicated for testing? 06:25 Competition Experience: Anxiety inducing or Exciting? 09:22 Meet Isaac: Anveshak’s current rover and upcoming competitions 12:18 Anveshak Results: Competition wins and Achievements 14:22 Designing a Robot for Mars: The difference and challenges 21:18 Money Matters: Rover costs and saving costs with 3D printing 25:30 The Anveshak Drone: Masterclass on drones and how they work 27:31 Autonomous Driving: How do you remotely drive a vehicle on a different planet? 32:17 In-House Development: What parts has the team built on its own? 33:50 Anveshak Astrobiology Module: What is the mission and what does the module do? 37:43 Women in STEM: Adithi’s advice to girls in STEM and future plans for Anveshak

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Dec 18, 202543mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

IIT Madras students build Mars rovers, drones, and science payloads.

  1. Team Anveshak builds prototype Mars rovers and a complementary drone module to expand exploration reach beyond what humans or ground rovers alone can access.
  2. Their rover “Isaac” is semi-autonomous, combining remote teleoperation, onboard perception, and operator-approved path planning to navigate rugged, Mars-like competition terrains.
  3. Mechanical design is iterated yearly with innovations like steering and extensive in-house 3D printing (including wheels and gearboxes) to reduce weight, improve reliability, and cut costs.
  4. The electronics/software stack uses multi-sensor perception (stereo camera, LiDAR, GPS, IMU) on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano plus custom PCBs and motor drivers to improve robustness under competition failure modes.
  5. An astrobiology module turns the rover into a mobile lab by drilling and analyzing soil with a low-cost, in-house 3D-printed spectrometer and targeted chemical tests to detect potential biosignatures.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Redundancy and robustness matter more than perfect runs.

A topple onto the antenna didn’t end the mission because the rover was built to survive mishaps and resume quickly—mirroring real-world priorities where repairs aren’t possible.

“Small” mechanical mistakes can decide competition outcomes.

A single loose bolt created wheel resistance that cascaded into motor failure symptoms and cost an entire mission, reinforcing the need for rigorous pre-flight checks and fast fault isolation.

3D printing can be a performance tool, not just a prototype shortcut.

By moving ~30% of the rover to 3D-printed parts (wheels, arm elements, gearboxes, gripper), the team reduced weight and unlocked faster iteration cycles while cutting costs by ~20–30%.

Earth-built rovers must balance Mars-inspired design with terrestrial constraints.

Competition rovers mimic rugged terrain but don’t face Mars temperatures/regolith, so materials and manufacturing choices (e.g., polymer 3D prints) can be optimized for Earth testing while still targeting Mars-like mobility.

Practical autonomy for planetary rovers is typically ‘supervised autonomy.’

The rover plans paths using onboard sensors and compute, sends the plan to an operator for approval, then executes slowly with local re-planning around unforeseen obstacles—reducing risk when comms and visibility are limited.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

During the mission, we tried to climb up a 70-degree slope… the rover ended up toppling over… But when we turned the rover back onto its wheels, everything was completely fine.

— Adithi

There’s almost $50 billion worth of material up there, and you don’t want to accidentally drive it into a ditch.

— Soham

We have built a 3D-printed in-house spectrometer… we search for signs of life, like protein or carbohydrate, in the soil.

— Abhishek

What the team learned was how small things actually matter. One screw not tight… could actually… cost you a lot of things.

— Ayush

Focus on what you like more than what other people would probably think about you.

— Adithi

Team structure and modules (mechanical, electronics/software, astrobiology, drone, finance/sponsorship)Mars-like testing and competition simulation (base station, camera-only operation)Rover capabilities: traversal, manipulation arm, autonomy vs teleopIterative mechanical innovation: steering, cycloidal gearbox, 3D-printed wheelsCost engineering: rover budget, savings from additive manufacturingAutonomy stack: sensors, Jetson Orin Nano, path planning with operator approvalDrone roles: scouting, relaying communications, risk reductionIn-house engineering: PCBs, motor drivers, spectrometer, partial open-source softwareAstrobiology workflow: drill, store, spectrometry, chemical assays, ML rock classificationWomen in STEM: leadership journey and advice

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