Human Exploration Rover Challenge: MTSU Motorsport's Rover Design Review Highlighting Recent Capstone Projects

The Experimental Vehicles Program (EVP) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) has competed in various vehicle competitions annually and has been participating in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) for many years.The competition is held in Huntsville, Alabama, and allows students to effectively complete the engineering design process while gaining hands-on experience in their respective fields.The HERC will enable students to apply knowledge acquired in the classroom from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in a real-world application.Beginning with the design phase, students have biweekly meetings where they learn to communicate their ideas effectively.They will learn to apply digital drafting and design skills to transform imagination into a concept to share with the team, negotiate with others for a viable design concept, meet failures, and develop strategies for an effective design solution [1].Fabrication begins in the machine shop, where the vehicle components are made from various materials, such as metal and plastic.Because of safety restrictions, students must rely heavily on NASA standards during the fabrication process.This is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their creative passion in the real world and to gain hands-on experience in the design and fabrication processes [2].Each part is manufactured in MTSU laboratories, and over 80% of the Rover is built by hand.Members can also create their Capstone projects regarding any components of the Rover design, and many of the vehicle's innovative components were concerning Capstone projects [3].The Rover project was created by the Associate Dean of Basic and Applied Sciences, Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.Most students in EVP use their hands-on experience to complete their Capstone course requirement and make an innovative design that can be contributed to the Rover.Team members participating in the Rover design and construction gain several advantages when Session ETD 425 Proceedings of the 2025 Conference for Industry and Education CollaborationCopyright ©2025, American Society for Engineering Education entering the workforce due to their experience with engineering mechanics, teamwork, and interdisciplinary skills.This paper explains how the technical design of vehicle competitions gives every member an advantage when entering the workforce, such as hands-on engineering experience, construction, fabrication, teamwork, and interdisciplinary skills [4].