Rover Profile/ 2024

Phoenix

Reborn for Mars: omni-wheel agility, a 7 kg-payload arm, triple-layer comms

Drive: 4-wheel rocker-bogie with omni wheels
Arm: 5-DOF
Payload: Up to 7 kg

CompetitionLEAD // Al Mahir Ahmed

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Mission Brief

Mongol-Tori Phoenix is BRAC University's redesigned URC 2024 rover, built by 30+ undergraduates across five sub-teams (Science, Automation, Arm, Drive, Navigation). It retains the proven 4-wheel rocker suspension while adding omnidirectional omni wheels for holonomic motion, a lighter base-heavy 5-DOF arm with up to 7 kg payload, and a three-layer dual-band communication system. A modular plug-and-play architecture isolates subsystem failures and lets the body be resized per mission.Mongol-Tori Phoenix is BRAC University's redesigned URC 2024 rover, built by 30+ undergraduates across five sub-teams (Science, Automation, Arm, Drive, Navigation). It retains the proven 4-wheel rocker suspension while adding omnidirectional omni wheels for holonomic motion, a lighter base-heavy 5-DOF arm with up to 7 kg payload, and a three-layer dual-band communication system. A modular plug-and-play architecture isolates subsystem failures and lets the body be resized per mission.

Spec SheetDWG phoenix-2024-2024

Competition: URC 2024
Venue: Mars Desert Research Station - MDRS, Hanksville, Utah, USA
Result: #21 of 114
Year: 2024
Team Lead: Al Mahir Ahmed

01 / What Makes It New

5 breakthroughs that define Phoenix

01
Innovation
Omnidirectional omni wheels
Wheels adjustable to 0°, 45° and 90° via heavy-duty linear actuators enable skid steering, spot rotation and lateral strafing, giving holonomic motion for tight maneuvering and equipment access.
02
Innovation
Base-heavy 5-DOF arm
A redesigned manipulator concentrates mass at the base for a high payload-to-weight ratio, reaching up to 7 kg payload with a 2-finger end effector, laser and solenoid for precise, modular task handling.
03
Innovation
Three-layer dual-band comms
Simultaneous and independent 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz point-to-point links with Ubiquiti Rocket M2/M5, automatic noise-avoiding channel binding and FPV failover keep video and control alive.
04
Innovation
Custom UV-Vis life-detection spectrometer
A modular onboard spectrometer spanning 250-800 nm with 15 quartz cuvettes detects biomarkers like FMN, porphyrins and Fe-S clusters using Beer-Lambert analysis for in-situ life detection.
05
Innovation
Modular plug-and-play architecture
Separate science, navigation, network and electronics modules allow swift swaps, isolate cascading failures, and let the rover body be resized per mission for significant weight reduction.

02 / Engineering

Built subsystem by subsystem

Every discipline on the team owns a slice of the machine. Here is how each one comes together.

SYS.01Mechanical

01Subsystem

Mechanical

A redesigned chassis in aluminum and ebonite retains the proven 4-wheel rocker suspension while adding omnidirectional omni wheels and a new lightweight 5-DOF arm. A fully modular layout separates science, navigation, network and electronics for plug-and-play swaps and weight reduction.

Omni wheels with 0°/45°/90° angles via heavy-duty linear actuators for skid steer, spot rotation and lateral movement
Modular plug-and-play modules isolate failures and allow the body to be sized down per mission
5-DOF arm with weight concentrated at the base for up to 7 kg payload
2-finger end effector with laser and solenoid for precise manipulation
Dedicated 2-DOF science arm with excavator claw for soil collection
New antenna extension/bending mechanism to meet height limits and adjust orientation from the mount base

SYS.02Controls

02Subsystem

Controls & Software

An onboard Intel NUC runs ROS Noetic on Ubuntu 20.04 as the system backbone, with the ROS master on the rover so it can keep deciding if comms drop. A web GUI tied to ROS shows position, orientation, science sensor data and battery level, with a WebSocket backup.

ROS master situated on the rover for autonomy during comms loss
Web GUI with offline map plus separate science web page for sensor data
Modular ROS nodes so no subsystem depends on another
Gamepad and joystick control for accessibility
Backup WebSocket system for GUI if ROS fails
Inverse kinematics for large then fine arm movements

SYS.03Electronics

03Subsystem

Electronics

The electronics subteam built two custom PCBs (arm and wheel) prioritizing modularity, efficiency and resilience. Each board carries an N-channel MOSFET H-bridge driven by DRV8702 plus relays, an onboard Arduino communicating serially with the Intel NUC, and onboard buttons for debugging.

Two custom PCBs with DRV8702-driven N-channel MOSFET H-bridges and relays
Limit-switch feedback on arm and omni-wheel modes
Backup relay/off-the-shelf driver circuits for reliability
Dual 4S 16V LiPo batteries: one for comms/computer, one for actuators, sensors and cameras
Power distribution board with buck-boost converters and safety monitoring
Solid State Relay with killswitch; second SSR reduces locomotion on comms loss

SYS.04Network

04Subsystem

Communication

A three-layer communication system gives uninterrupted control and feed using two dedicated point-to-point links on 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz. Ubiquiti Rocket M2/M5 units at the base station pair with a WAVLINK router on the rover, with automatic noise-avoiding channel binding.

Dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz used simultaneously or independently as failsafe
Ubiquiti Rocket M2 and Rocket M5 at base station, WAVLINK router on rover
Automatic interference detection and channel binding
Rotator with elevation-azimuth controller for line-of-sight tracking
Multiple webcams assigned IPs as cheap IP cams plus FPV cams for failover
Drone-assisted range extension via repeater being evaluated

SYS.05Autonomous

05Subsystem

Autonomy

Autonomous navigation uses GNSS localization and the ROS Navigation Stack with global and local planners for path planning and camera-based obstacle avoidance. An SBG Ellipse-D INS with differential GNSS delivers 1 m positioning and 0.2° heading precision.

SBG Ellipse-D INS + differential GNSS: 1 m single-point, 0.2° heading precision
OpenCV ArUco tag detection with GNSS holding patterns
YOLO v8 object detection trained on larger datasets for rubber mallet and water bottle
Depth-camera approach to markers and obstacle avoidance
Search patterns when objects/markers not found on first attempt
Custom global planner under development

SYS.06Science

06Subsystem

Science

A modular onboard life-detection assay centers on a custom UV-Vis spectrometer (250-800 nm) analyzing absorption spectra of biomarkers in 15 quartz cuvettes. A retractable science arm collects and crushes soil, feeding a sealed cache and cuvettes for spectroscopic and wet-chemistry analysis.

Custom UV-Vis laser spectrometer, 250-800 nm, with 15 quartz cuvettes (12.5x12.5x45 mm)
Camera + Theremino software for wavelength peak identification; Beer-Lambert concentration analysis
Target biomarkers: FMN, porphyrins, Fe-S clusters; Ninhydrin test for amines/amino acids
EC sensor for conductivity/salinity, NPK sensor for soil fertility, thermal and moisture sensors
Retractable downward claw collects top 10 cm soil, with roller crushing and rotational-speed quantification
Sealed cache box holds at least 5 g of soil to prevent spills and contamination

03 / Telemetry

The numbers behind the build

Drive System

4-wheel rocker-bogie with omni wheels

Wheel Angles

0°, 45°, 90° via heavy-duty linear actuators

Arm DOF

5-DOF manipulator

Payload

Up to 7 kg

Compute

Intel NUC (ROS Noetic / Ubuntu 20.04)

Power

Dual 4S 16V LiPo batteries

Comms

Dual-band 2.4 GHz + 5.8 GHz point-to-point

Range

Up to 1 km traversal

Body Materials

Aluminum and ebonite

Drop Test

Passed 1 m drop

Parts Index // 16 components

Intel NUC
ROS Noetic
Ubuntu 20.04
DRV8702
Arduino
Ubiquiti Rocket M2
Ubiquiti Rocket M5
WAVLINK router
SBG Ellipse-D INS
OpenCV
YOLO v8
Theremino software
Solid State Relay (SSR)
4S 16V LiPo
EC sensor
NPK sensor
Intel NUC
ROS Noetic
Ubuntu 20.04
DRV8702
Arduino
Ubiquiti Rocket M2
Ubiquiti Rocket M5
WAVLINK router
SBG Ellipse-D INS
OpenCV
YOLO v8
Theremino software
Solid State Relay (SSR)
4S 16V LiPo
EC sensor
NPK sensor

NPK sensor
EC sensor
4S 16V LiPo
Solid State Relay (SSR)
Theremino software
YOLO v8
OpenCV
SBG Ellipse-D INS
WAVLINK router
Ubiquiti Rocket M5
Ubiquiti Rocket M2
Arduino
DRV8702
Ubuntu 20.04
ROS Noetic
Intel NUC
NPK sensor
EC sensor
4S 16V LiPo
Solid State Relay (SSR)
Theremino software
YOLO v8
OpenCV
SBG Ellipse-D INS
WAVLINK router
Ubiquiti Rocket M5
Ubiquiti Rocket M2
Arduino
DRV8702
Ubuntu 20.04
ROS Noetic
Intel NUC

04 / Mission Plan

Four missions, one machine

How this rover is engineered to score across every University Rover Challenge task.

01
Extreme Delivery Mission
The 4-wheel rocker-bogie suspension carries the rover up to 1 km across sand, rock, gravel and boulder fields, having passed a 1 m drop test. Operators drive via a web GUI with offline map, while onboard fossil, rock and tool detection models help catalog geological features using only the camera.
02
Equipment Servicing Mission
Omni-wheel holonomic strafing gives precise positioning for transporting the cache container to the lander and operating panel controls. The base-heavy arm with prismatic end-effector joints and inverse kinematics enables fine tasks like inserting the cache, typing, aiming an antenna and inserting a USB stick.
03
Autonomous Navigation Mission
GNSS and the ROS Navigation Stack plan paths between coordinates with camera-based local obstacle avoidance. OpenCV ArUco detection plus a YOLO v8 model identify markers and objects, and depth perception guides accurate approach with search patterns as fallback.
04
Science Mission
A retractable science arm with excavator claw collects soil from the top 10 cm (deeper with extension), crushes it via roller, and routes samples to cuvettes and a sealed cache. A custom UV-Vis spectrometer and EC/NPK/thermal/moisture sensors drive a life-detection assay across multiple biomarkers.