Adorable 3D-printed rovers learn to find blue ball in Mars-like environment

Tiny six-wheel rovers roll around on an orange mat on a concrete floor. A woman in the foreground on the right kneels next to one, her hand reaching toward it. In the background another woman stands holding a rover, while others look on or sit at computer monitors.

University students tested 3D-printed rovers designed to emulate Europe's Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover that is slated to launch to the Martian surface by 2028.

Six student teams acted as mission control for the miniature rovers; the activity was part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Academy Robotics Workshop held at the agency’s Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. The students programmed the robotic explorers, called ExoMy rovers, to autonomously search and navigate toward a target within a simulated Mars environment.